Just like Strawberries
by nona-lovato
Summary: When two people are completely different, living in two completely different worlds, with absolutely different lifestyles and attitudes… In your opinion, what would bring them together? What do you think is the possibility of them meeting? Is there even a possibility? We're about to find out.
1. Chapter 1: You again?

**Hey, guys! I'm back!**

 **I know I've been gone for quite a long time but that's what school does to me. I'm back with a very interesting new idea for this story, though. Also, for those who have been reading my stuff since day one, big thank you to them, this is also a new category. I used to write Camp rock stories because I was in love with Smitchie/Jemi… still am actually, But it got kind of boring you know. It's very rare that people upload Camp rock stories anymore which is quite sad 'cause I still enjoy reading them.**

 **Anyhow, I've been really loving Girl Meets World for like a few months now. I love the characters, the story, the lessons…. Everything really. It's very inspirational unlike most of Disney's other shows, in my opinion, so it's kind of hard not to get hooked.**

 **However, this story will be nothing like the show. Maybe I'll use some of the quotes or lessons along the story to make it resemble the show a little but that's about it. Also not all the characters will have the same relationship as they do on the show. I feel like that makes it a bit different than some stories out there.**

 **I'll try to update it as much as I can so I can finish it before I start my pre-studying for my final year of high-school, also known as, the toughest year in high-school aka 12** **th** **grade.**

 **This chapter is basically an introduction to the story, so you won't really understand much of it. Starting from chapter two or three, the story begins. You'll understand better by chapter three I guess, but for now… This chapter pretty much is a 'get to know the main characters' type of chapter... I guess.**

 **Enjoy xx**

* * *

Let me ask you question, when two people are completely different, living in two completely different worlds, with absolutely different lifestyles and attitudes… In your opinion, what would bring them together? What do you think is the possibility of them meeting? Is there even a possibility?

Is it gonna be coincidence? Nah, I don't think so. There's no such thing called coincidence… especially when love is involved. *wink*wink*

So what is it gonna be?

Well, that's what we're gonna find out…. Hopefully?

* * *

The annoying sound of the alarm clock filled both their rooms signaling that it was six in the morning, that it was time to wake up. Although they lived in different parts of the city, their routine was quite similar, specially for today. One is a little fancier than the other though.

Riley got up from her bed with a beautiful smile on her face ready to face whatever the day is gonna bring and stretched her muscles a bit. Lucas on the other hand, woke up with a grown and after sitting up and remembering what he'll be doing today, a scowl took place on his handsome face. He wasn't as excited as our girl Riley was, But then again, Riley was always optimistic and she always believed that whatever happens, happens for a reason. Even if it was unknown to her.

They were both making their way to the bathroom to take showers when their phones ringing stopped them.

"Hey, Peaches! Good morning" Riley said through the phone cheerfully as she decided to take the extra minutes to choose her outfit for the day.

 _"Hello, Cousin!"_ Lucas said with a somewhat bored tone as he went to his bathroom to start the water. He knew that the phone call won't take long.

"Good morning, Riles! I wanted to make sure that you're awake. Oh my god girl… Can you believe that we're leaving this entire place for the summer? Like FINALLY!" Maya said excitedly.

 _"Hello to you too, Lucas. Although, I would've very much preferred a 'Good Morning' rather than this bored tone, but you're excused considering what happened."_ Lucas' cousin said with a little playfulness in his voice.

"I know, right? I'm really excited but a little nervous at the same time. You know I've never been on a plane before and I've never been this far away from my mother…." Riley trailed off. She didn't mean to kill her friend's excitement but she was never good at keeping her feelings to herself.

 _"Look, I don't know what any of you people expect from me, but you did well with doing this as a punishment. Not only for me but for Kayli as well. She won't even believe that it's a punishment, man! She thinks I'm running away from her or something! I'm not anywhere near excited about this trip so please save yourself those words."_ Lucas said with a somewhat sharp tone.

"I know, Riles. I'm nervous, too. I've never been on a plane or away from my brother and you know that I hate planes for a particular reason but my excitement is kind of making me not think about my nervousness. Everything will be just fine, we'll go through this together and we'll have some fun while making some much needed money!" Maya said trying to calm not only Riley but herself as well. It worked.

 _"I understand that you hate this, Cousin. But you were kind of asking for it with all the trouble you've been making, Lucas. So you better suck it up and move on with your… punishment as you call it. If you ask me, I'll say that you're lucky. Who gets sent to Florida as a Punishment, dude?"_ His cousin said.

"I hope so, peaches… I hope so. Well, I need to go shower and get ready so that I'm not late. Am I gonna meet you there or what?" Riley said as she laid her outfit on her, now neatly made, bed and got a towel out as well.

 _"Whatever you say, dude. I gotta go shower now, you're gonna meet me at Florida's Airport, right?"_ Lucas said.

"Yeah, I'll wait for you by the check in desks. See ya there!" Maya said and they both hung up to shower and get ready.

 _"Yeah, Cousin. I'll be waiting for you there. Good bye!"_

After hanging up, Lucas and Riley made their way to their bathrooms and undressed themselves then got in, instantly enjoying the feeling of the hot water against their muscles. They made sure to wash their bodies well and then got out closing the water after them. After drying off, Lucas wrapped a towel around his waist while Riley wrapped one around her body. She didn't wash her hair because she had washed it the night before due to the things that happened the day before.

After putting on their clothes and getting ready, they both had breakfast with their parent/s and then headed out. Riley's choice of clothing was a simple dark blue tiered floral sundress that ended a few inches above her knees. It had spaghetti straps and it had white polka dots under the tiny flowers and in the middle there was a section that was just polka dots. She wore a pair of dark blue flats and a bright red backpack. As for her hair she had the top of her hair in a bun while the rest was down her back in beautiful waves. Lucas' on the other hand wore a simple grey T-shirt with the collar of a blue button up and towards the end it looks as if he's got one side of that button up untucked and hanging down with a black leather jacket on top, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of dark grey sneakers.

This is where their morning got different, though. Upon leaving the house, Lucas made his way towards the car where the driver was already waiting for him. He took his bags from him and put them in the car as Lucas got into the back seat. Riley on the other hand, had to pull her heavy bag all the way to the bus stop to catch the bus that'll take her to the airport, and boy was it a long distance for her.

About a half hour later, They both arrived at the airport. Lucas once again had it easy as the driver unloaded his two bags for him while Riley had to struggle with making her way through the many people who just got off the same bus and getting her bag out. The hand of her bag wouldn't open so she had to pull it while bending at an awkward, and painful angle. Lucas was on his phone so he didn't notice where he was going or who was in front of him.

She reached the door of the airport and stopped for a minute to try and pull the handle out. She kept pulling and pulling until suddenly she got it out but as she did so she found herself falling. Luckily for her, a pair of strong arms took hold of her waist and stopped her from falling on her back.

They both looked deeply inside each other's eyes, seemingly forgetting where they were. For a few seconds, Riley was just starring at his bright green eyes while Lucas starred into her chocolate brown one. The sun made both their eyes ten times brighter which made each of them lost in the other's eyes for those very few seconds. They both frowned though, upon realizing who the other person was. They might not know each other's names, but they sure as hell knew each other. Upon realizing who he is, Riley pushed herself out of his hold and stood in front of him with an angry look on her face that mirrored Lucas's. Riley was quite tall, yet somehow Lucas still towered over her.

"YOU AGAIN?" They both shouted at the same time while looking angrily at each other. "UGGHH!"

If looks could kill…. Both of them would've been dead by now.

* * *

 **Alright, people! This is it for the first chapter. I know its might seem a bit too confusing for the first few chapters but I promise you that this is the most confusing one. Sorry that it's short though, but to keep it interesting, this is enough for this chapter.**

 **Please tell me your thoughts and if you'd like me to continue this story. Don't be silent now please.**

 **Now, I have two questions for you guys.**

 **First one is the obvious one…. Who do you think is Lucas's cousin out of GMW's MAIN characters? I just gave you a hint as well.**

 **Second one is, who do you think said these first few words? About the different worlds and stuff. That person is kind of the narrator of the story. He/she is a part of the actual story but every now and then, He/she will get to say a few words like those.**

 **So any guesses?**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me your thoughts.**

 **Love always,**

 **Haneen xx.**


	2. Chapter 2: Now, We're equal

**Hello, beautiful person reading this! *Waving happily***

 **First off, thank you for the nice words you left me in the reviews. I was doubting this story, still doubting it a little, and I honestly thought that no one will like it considering how confusing the first chapter was. Needless to say, I woke up today and saw the reviews first thing in the morning and they brought a smile to my face, even though they were like five reviews lol. I appreciate 'em though.**

 **As for who Maya's brother is, I honestly have no Idea… I thought about it a lot then decided to just leave him unknown… he's not gonna be making many appearances anyways.**

 **Annnnd as for how they know each other…. That's what you'll find out in this chapter. It MIGHT seem a bit confusing though, but hopefully it won't.**

 **Enjoy xx**

* * *

Do you know that saying or thing or whatever it is where… God takes one thing from you, to give you something better? Did you ever believe in that?

I honestly never did…. But I think that I'm about to believe in that.

Everything happens for a reason, right?

* * *

You probably don't understand anything from what happened just now, do you? Well let's go back to yesterday so that you can see for yourselves how I met this…. Jerk.

Come on, let's go…

 ***one day before***

God, I hate waking up late and having to do everything in a rush. Stupid alarm didn't go off.

I hurried around my room while putting my things in my yellow bag that had one of these long things so that you can wear it across your body. I love this kind of bags… _focus on getting ready, Riley!_ After doing that, I sprayed myself with perfume and stood in front of my mirror to take one final look at myself before going out. I adjusted the straps to my baby blue dress that had very tiny white and yellow polka dots all over it and adjusted the yellow headband that I had on, making sure that my straight hair was lying perfectly. My makeup looked good. So makeup is good, clothes are good, hair is good… Time to leave.

"Come on, Riley. You don't wanna be late for work, baby girl." My mum said from downstairs.

"I'm coming, Mum!" I told her back. I took my bag along with my sketch book that had my drawing for today and went downstairs after closing my door and lights. "Ohhhh, looking good, Topanga!" I said with a bright smile when I saw her.

"Really? Is it too much? Should I were pants or is the skirt good? Does the scarf go well or should I take it off? Is-" She said nervously. She was wearing a white blouse with a black cardigan on top, a baby pink scarf that was outlined with a dark blue color that she had tied around her neck, and a black knee-length pencil skirt.

"Mum… You look good. You don't need to worry, you're clothes are perfect. Are you nervous?" She had a job interview today as a private chef for some rich family. She wasn't used to private jobs. She was used to catering birthdays and these kind of stuff, so I understand why she's like this.

"Yes…. It's been almost a year since I've stopped working. I really hope that this goes well, Riley."

"You don't need to worry, Mum! Everything will go just fine, I promise. Besides, I don't think that they'll find someone better than you for this job… you're such an amazing cook. Whoever tastes your food just one time, falls in love with it within the first bite."

"Your Aunt Katy praised about me just like that…. I caused her a lot of stress too. Actually, I've catered a lot of stuff and people are always pleased with the food… but these people are from the higher class… what if they don't like it?" I smiled at her and pulled her into a hug to calm her a little bit.

"Don't you worry, Mummy! Everything will go perfectly."

"I hope so, Pumpkin. I hope so." We pulled away and she kissed both my cheeks while I kissed hers. "Come on, come on. Let's not be late." I nodded and we made our way to the door and put on our shoes that my mum had already laid out. Mine were a pair of yellow flats while hers were a pair of black mini heels. We got out of the house together, said goodbye and went our own way. I walked to the bakery, where I work, in a sort of fast pace considering that I had a late morning.

When I got in, Maya was standing right by the cashier sorting some cupcakes out. I blew her a kiss as I passed her and she smiled. I went to the kitchen in a hurry and laid my bag and sketch book to the side.

"Good morning, chef! Sorry I'm a little late." I said as I put on my apron that had tiny strawberries all over it and smiled at the chef.

"Its okay, Riles. You're like two minutes late. You should hurry and start on the strawberry cake though." I smiled at her and nodded. I headed to the fridge and took out the ingredients. First ingredient is; 600 grams of strawberries, duh. I washed them really well and put them to the side. I grabbed the mixer to mix the ingredients for the cake. I cracked four eggs into it, Three cups of flour, two cups of sugar, one cup of milk, Vanilla, and yeast. I poured it all into the container it'll bake in and put it into the oven for forty minutes on 180 degree.

After taking it out and letting it cool, I cut it in half and applied a layer of whipped cream then cut up the strawberries into slices and added it on top of that. After putting the two halves back together and adding strawberries on top as well, I covered the entire thing with whipped cream and smoothed out the edges, making sure that it's perfect. What I didn't see was the chef's proud smile as she observed my work.

"Riley, you learned this perfectly. You're really good."

"Really? Thank you, Chef. I had a great teacher." I told her as a big smile took place on my face. I remembered something and smiled even bigger, "One moment, Teacher." I got my sketchbook from where I had left it and opened it on my newest drawing of a new design for a cake. "This is my drawing for today's order… can we do it?"

"Oh that's pretty! Of course we can." She said with a smile making me smile. It was a design of a girl sitting on top of the cake with a blue dress on while there was a baby pink blanket under her with red polka dots that draped over the sides of the cake, and a strawberry on top behind the girl.

"Let's start it now, shall we?" I said excitedly and she nodded. She started working on the girl while I worked on the blanket and within a short period of time, It was almost finished. It looked really cute. Just as we were putting the final touches and cleaning up, Maya walked in with a tray full of dishes and cups.

"Ugh! I haven't stopped working since I came here, I'm so tired. I can even rest my arms and legs for two seconds. It is so crowded out there." She whined.

"Do you need help?" I offered as I went to where she was standing, which was, leaning by the sink.

"That would be really good. I've been going back and forth since I came here. I'm really thankful that I'll be free today."

"Today?" I said with a sad smile, "Are you really quitting? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, Peaches. I planned everything. Just look at this…" She took out her phone and showed me a picture of the Hotel she'll be working at in Miami, Florida.

"Oh, it looks really pretty. If it looks this pretty in the picture… I can only imagine what it'll look like in real life…"

"I told you, Riles. And if I'm lucky, I'll even fall in love…" She said with a dreamy look on her face. To anyone else, Maya was this tough strong girl that you don't mess with... but to me she's a hopeless romantic who can't wait to meet her prince charming.

"Why are you going again? I thought you were going there to work…" I said with a smirk on my face.

"Well, I am. It won't hurt if I met someone there… a summer fling is always cool. I wouldn't mind if it's not just a summer fling as well." You see, Maya is pretty. She's every guy's dream girl. Perfect, Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, great body, sassy, funny, strong, independent… you name it, it's one of her qualities. It's not gonna be that hard for her to find her prince charming.

"People are waiting to be served outside and you both are here talking with each other?" Our boss said as he came into the Kitchen with an angry look on his face. Maya hurriedly made her way out of the kitchen. "Is the cake ready?" He asked the chef.

"Almost done, sir." She said.

"You paid extra attention to it like I asked, didn't you? The customer is a close friend of the store owner, just so you know. I don't want anything to go wrong." He said, making Riley nervous. _What if the customer doesn't like my design? Oh my god, that'll ruin everything._ She said to herself nervously. "Riley… enough cleaning up, you're gonna be delivering the orders."

"Okay, sir!" I said nodding my head and with that he left.

"Hey… Go help Maya a little bit. I'll bring the cake to you when it's done." The chef said as she smiled at me. I nodded and took off my apron and put back where it belonged, then made my way out of the Kitchen. I took Maya's place on the Cashier and continued working until it was time to deliver things out.

Enough about me…. Go see how my mother is doing.

* * *

Topanga arrived at the house and rang the bell of the gate. It looked so chic from the outside, almost like mansion. A guy in a black suit made his way to her and smiled at her. When she saw him she smiled as well and stood up straight.

"Good morning, how can I help you?"

"Good morning, I came here for a job interview. Madam Katy knows that I'm coming. Tell her that I'm Topanga Mathews."

"Wait a few minutes then, Mrs. Mathews." He said before leaving and making his way towards the house. After a few moments he made his way back to her and opened up the gate for her. "You can come in."

"Thank you." She said and made her way inside. She was almost near the front door when Katy came out of a door which Topanga assumed was, the kitchen door.

"Topanga! Hello! Welcome here!" Katy said as she made her way towards her and pulled her into a hug. "Are you ready for this? I'm sure Mrs. Friar will love you!" Topanga smiled at her and they made their way through the same sliding doors Katy came out of.

Just as they went in, The front door opened to reveal a handsome man in his late thirties wearing a tux. When he was out, he stood there and looked back at his gorgeous wife who was making her way towards him. She kissed him goodbye and wished him luck then stepped back as she watched him make his way to the car before going back inside the house.

Back in the kitchen, Kate was giving Topanga a few encouraging words to get her ready for her interview.

"I talked to Mrs. Friar, and she's ready to meet you. I told her how great of cook you are and who you've worked for before… I'd say consider the job yours from now."

"I hope so, Kate. I really do. You know how I want to take some of the weight off of Riley. She's still so young to carry all this financial responsibilities on her own."

"She still can't get into college?"

"Yeah… and you know that she got a really high grade and I'm really sad to watch all that hard work she did in school go to waste just because there isn't enough time or money for her to continue her studies. This year, she HAS to get into college. This is why this job is pretty important to me. It's our only chance."

"Don't worry, Topanga. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get the job, even though I don't think you'll need my help. Your very delicious food will earn you this job." Kate smiled at Topanga and she returned the smile with a hopeful one. "Come on, let's go. Let me introduce to Cathy aka Mrs. Friar."

"What is she like?"

"She's a really kind, generous, caring and quiet lady… as long as you're doing your job right, She'll love you and treat you good." We started making our way to what I assumed was the living room where Mrs. Friar was sitting. She was checking something out on her IPad while having her morning tea. "Madam Cathy-"

"OH MY GOD! One of the very well-known faces, Lucas Joseph Friar, was caught partying in a club once again!" She said in a high pitched tone, "Unbelievable, this kid will be the death of me." She said as she got up and was finally aware of our presence as she turned towards us.

"Mrs. Cathy, are you okay?" Kate asked.

"Yes, I'm okay. Did you need anything?" She said while forcing a smile onto her face.

"Oh… This Topanga Mathews, The chef I told you about." Kate said nervously.

"It's nice to meet you. Let Kate tell you about our conditions and if you agree on them, you can come tomorrow morning to start working. Of course, we'll try your food first and if we like it, then the job is yours." She said giving Topanga a warm smile.

"Okay, Mrs. Friar." Topanga said with a smile as well and with that Cathy turned around and her expression went back to that of frustration as she made her way. Topanga turned to Katy and smiled happily to her before the both made their way back into the kitchen to talk for a bit before Topanga went back home.

Poor Mrs. Friar, though. Let's go see where she stormed off to...

"LUCAS" Cathy half shouted as she made her way into his room before she noticed how messy it was. Clothes were scattered everywhere along with shoes. "For god's sake, son. What is this mess? This place smells awful." Lucas only stirred as she made her way to the curtains and opened them as well as the sliding doors of his room that led to the backyard. "Wake up, Son! Its…" She stopped to look at her watch before continuing, "eight in the morning, son! Lucas… Lucas!" She took a seat on the edge of his bed and started shaking him awake.

"Mum, what's going on in the morning?" Lucas said sleepily.

"What could it be, son! You're all over the news… AGAIN!" Lucas seemed to wake up upon hearing these words as his eyes flew open. "I mean this is number what… fifty? Look at me, Lucas! I really hope that you have an explanation for this!" Lucas took a breath and sat up on his bed. "Didn't your father warn you like fifty times? Who the hell is that girl that's with you?"

As he looked at the picture his mother was showing him on the iPad, memories of last night flooded his mind. He remembered meeting this cute girl with the mini sparkly dress and the bright blue eyes at the club, and dancing with her all night, until she said something about needing to leave and asking him to drive her to her house. It was quite innocent actually. They were going out of the club side by side when he saw the reporters and being somewhat drunk made him attack one of them who just didn't want to leave them alone.

"She's my friend, Mum." He said with a straight face.

"She sure doesn't look like a friend, Lucas." Well, she isn't… he was thinking about a make out session with her in the car or something, but his mother doesn't need to know that. "Tell me the truth… or did you really break up with Kayli?"

"No, Mother. I didn't"

"Then why is that what they're saying? Why would they say that? I don't know how you'll explain this to Kayli or your father. Why do you always have to put us through this, Lucas? Why?"

"Ugh, Mum! You're overreacting! There's nothing to explain! This girl is…" He trailed off thinking about a label as his mother didn't buy the whole 'friend' thing, " Farkle's girlfriend!" _I'm so sorry Farkle!_ Lucas thought to himself. At that, his mother stood up from the bed with a surprised look on her face.

"Farkle…. Farkle's girlfriend? As in farkle, your cousin?" Lucas nodded with a smirk, happy that she bought it. "Oh good! For a moment there I thought that something happened between you and Kayli…"

"No, mum. Farkle was walking right in front of us to get his car started so I got stuck with walking beside her and she got a little uncomfortable with them taking pictures so I was trying to keep them away and I guess I accidently hit one or two of them…" he explained sheepishly. "And you know how much he doesn't like the cameras, he just drove off and I was on the headlines instead. I wouldn't be surprised if the girl broke up with him for leaving her like that."

After a few more words with his mother, she finally made her way out of the room and Lucas got up to get ready for the day.

In another part of the city, there was Farkle, his dad and his sister, Camila. They had just had breakfast and each one of them got out of the house into his own car to go on with their day. Farkle was heading to their company when his phone rang.

"Hello, Lucas. You're a little early today." Farkle laughed as he greeted Lucas through the phone.

"I don't think you've seen the news yet, right?" Lucas said with a smirk on his face.

"No, I didn't… Oh! What did you do again last night?"

"Nothing, really. Actually it was just innocent flirting. You know I can't say no to hot girls, especially when I'm drunk."

"Of course I know. How can I not? What happened after that, though? They tried taking pictures and that's when the problems happened, right?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to just let Kayli see them?"

"You wouldn't be worrying about that if you weren't such a player in the first place. I mean what kind of man are you? It hasn't even been a week since the girl went back to the UK. You say that you love her, Is this what Love is to you?" Farkle questioned.

"We won't spend the rest of our lives with just one girl, just because we love her, Cousin."

"Well, I think you're in big trouble this time, dude."

"And that's where the genius is wrong. I'll say that the girl is your girlfriend." Lucas said and Farkle could hear the smirk in his voice, literally.

"What?! My girlfriend? No, Lucas. Don't you dare put me in the middle of this lie."

"I already did… I'll see you at the company, Goodbye." Lucas said with a laugh and hung up not giving Farkle a chance to say anything.

"Lucas…Lucas! LUCAS!" Farkle said but was already too late.

"Problem solved…" Lucas said as he drove.

In another place across from the US, There's this mother and daughter having breakfast in their backyard, enjoying the rare occasion of the sun making an appearance in the UK. They were having a small talk when Kayli got an e-mail on her phone. She opened it curiously and a scowl took place on her pretty face right away.

"I can't believe this!" she said with an angry tone highlighting her British accent.

"What's wrong Kayli?" Her mother asked concerned.

"Our famous player Lucas Friar, Joseph Friar's son, appeared in an interesting situation once again. Lucas, who left the club after enjoying his time with his friends, was seen leaving with a beautiful girl by his side. He got mad at the reporters for taking pictures and caused a problem. What's interesting is what his beautiful British girlfriend Kayli will do upon hearing about this." After she finished reading the article to her mother, she handed her the phone to see the pictures for herself. "Can you see the situation he put me in, Mom? This is too much this time!"

"Calm down, Kayli." Her mother said as she looked at the pictures.

"How can I calm down, Mom? I can't even trust him when I'm not in the US, do I have to always follow him?"

"Maybe she's his friend or something. Give him the benefit of the doubt, baby."

"Can't you see their pictures? Does she look like a friend to you? Huh?" she said angrily, "No, it's over, this time it's really over."

"Stop it, Kayli! You can't just end things without hearing him out! Maybe he has an explanation. Just calm down and wait until you see what he'll say. If it really is like you're saying, then you'll do what's necessary."

 _ **How about we leave all those people and go check on our girl Riley? Yeah, let's go…**_

* * *

Riley was standing by the cashier when she heard the door of the bakery open so she looked up. Walking through the door was her favorite customer. He was a tall handsome guy with blonde, almost really light brown, hair. She didn't know his name, she just knew that she really liked him.

"What are you waiting for? Go take his order!" Maya said startling Riley. The guy had made his way towards one of their cake fridge thingies.

"What? No, you go take it. I don't want to."

"Yes, you want to. If you don't go, You won't find your prince charming that'll take you on his white pretty horse."

"Who said anything about me wanting anyone to take me? I'm happy and content enough right here… Besides, what could possibly happen if I took his order?"

"What could possibly happen? He'll probably fall in love with you just when you two make eye contact… He'll be waiting for you, even if you're going towards him in slow motion. Maybe you both will get so lost in each other's eyes as if it's just you and him in this world…. He'll probably take your hands and that's when the butterflies will come… You both will start moving closer…. Closer… and closer… until your lips are a few inches apart and-" They were both taken out of their dream world as Riley opened her eyes suddenly realizing that it wasn't real.

"Impossible… what you're saying would never happen. The prince would never fall for snow white, the poor girl who has to work at some bakery to feed herself."

"You think that, Riles." Their talk was ended by the guy making his way towards them.

"Good morning, Can I have a piece of your strawberry cake, please? Also before I forget, Your cakes are so delicious, they got me addicted to them. Specially the strawberry one… so good!" He said with a bright smile on his face.

"Riley here, is the one who makes our cakes." Maya said as she smirked at Riley and went to get his order.

"Really? Well, god bless you, you make some delicious stuff!" The guy said.

"Thank you, that means a lot!" Riley said with her signature smile and then bent down to get a box for his cake. When it was ready, he thanked them and paid before making his way out of the bakery and into his car. Riley glared at Maya and as she opened her mouth to say something, the chef came out and gave her the cake so that she can go deliver to the birthday party on time.

As she went out to the street, Lucas was nearing where she was heading with his car. They were both in a rush. Riley was running in the street because her boss told her that she was late.

Lucas on the other hand was trying to call Kayli but he got no answer so he laid his phone on the passenger seat, accidently on the edge so when he took a sharp turn, it fell down. A few moments later, Kayli called him. Knowing that this would be his only way to talk to her, he tried to reach for it while keeping his eyes on the road. The street was empty so he took his eyes off of it for just a few seconds to get his phone.

As he looked at the street once again after getting his phone, he saw a girl coming out of nowhere and he almost hit her, it was wasn't for his fast reaction of directing the car the other way. The girl fell to the floor due to her surprise while the cake she was holding in her hands flew high up in the air and got out of the box, before landing right on head.

So there she was, sitting on the floor with cake covering her head. Her life was just perfect, right?

Lucas was watching the scene in surprise before he remembered that he almost drove into a dumpster, so he got out and examined the front of his car to make sure nothing happened to it.

"Thank god. At least there isn't a problem." He said in relief. Riley removed the cake from her face and hair and looked at him with a frustrated look on her face.

"You should've watched out! You almost hit me!" She said from her place on the floor.

"Well, that's what happens when you stop in the middle of the street. You should thank god that nothing happened to my car." He said as he made his way over to her as she stood up.

"Your car? I was about to die and all you're thinking about is your stupid car?"

"Do you realize how expensive this care is?"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you wouldn't be able to afford paying for the tiniest damage that would've been caused to it."

"I wouldn't be able to because it's not my fault... but yours!"

"Look, the sidewalk is where you're supposed to be walking, not the street! Sidewalks are for walking while the road is for cars. Of course, It would be hard for you to learn that now if you're this old and you don't know where to walk!"

"What kind of person are you? You're being self-centered when you're supposed to be apologizing?" Riley said in disbelief.

"If there's someone who needs to be apologizing then it's you. So, hurry up and apologize so that I could get going. I'm in a hurry."

"Look at me-" Riley got interrupted with her phone ringing so she took it out of her bag to find her boss calling her. "Offff! What am I supposed to do? The cake is ruined!" she said as she looked at the cake scattered on the floor then stormed towards him again, "What am I gonna say to my boss? Who's gonna cover what happened to my cake, huh?"

"Oh come on! It's just a stupid cake!"

"It's not that simple! This cake was for a little girl celebrating her birthday. Do you know how sad she'll be when she finds no birthday cake? And the father must be furious and he must've really gave my boss an earful of words! All because of you, you self-centered jerk!"

"I don't care about any of that! I've wasted enough of my time with you already!" He pushed her to the side and made his way to the driver's seat with Riley following him and got in.

"Where are you going? You can't leave like that!"

"Oh really? Watch me!"

"I'll sue you!" Riley said as she bent down to the level of his window.

"You're making a big deal out of this for a stupid cake that cost like 30 dollars or something!" He said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a 50 dollars pill. "Here you go.." he pointed the money at her. Riley just looked at him and the money, back and forth, not quite believing his actions. "What are you looking at? Is this not enough? Do you want more?"

Riley just looked at him angrily before she made her way towards his windows shields and took one of them in her hands and started twisting it.

"HEY…HEY! What are you doing?!" Lucas yelled at her while getting out of the car. Riley just kept twisting until she broke it and half of it was just hanging, covered in cake, as the other half was standing up. "Are you out of your mind?!" Lucas said in disbelief as he took hold of her arm but the damage was already done.

"Now… we're equal" Riley said before she stormed off. Lucas looked at the damage done, still surprised from her actions.

"Dammit!" He said before getting into his car and driving off.

* * *

 **So this is it for this chapter. It might seem a bit too much, but I couldn't cut any of it. I already cut a lot. I've been writing for about five hours now and now I'm too tired to re-read it to edit it. So, I'm sorry for any mistakes.**

 **Yes, Farkle is Lucas' cousin and later on I'll explain to you why I made Farkle Lucas' cousin or maybe you're smart enough and you'll just catch on after this chapter because it gives you a tiny hint. The narrator though, isn't Farkle. I don't think you'll know who it is, really.**

 **I really wish that I could've ended this chapter with them meeting at the airport but it would've been a bit too much. Its already +5K words.**

 **Also, the whole changing the places thing, was just me trying to show you what was happening with all the characters at the same time. So basically they all happened at the same time, except that last scene with Lucas and Riley. That happened after the guy left the bakery.**

 **SO question is; who was the guy at the bakery?**

 **I really hope that it didn't confuse you or bore you and I really hope that you liked it.**

 **Make sure to leave me a review, cause those make me happy!**

 **Love always,**

 **Haneen xx.**


	3. Chapter 3: Let's take a selfie

**Hello, people on the internet!**

 **So, honestly, I'm so happy that you guys seem to be enjoying this story so far, despite the confusion.**

 **The guy at the bakery wasn't Charlie Gardener. I actually still don't know if I'll put him into the story or not. Either ways, if I decide on using him, it won't be until a little bit later.**

 **Thank you for everyone who reviewed, I love you.**

 **Enjoy xx**

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Farkle. Mr. Friar just arrived, he's in his office now." The secretary told Farkle over the phone and Farkle thanked her before hanging up.

"Dad, Uncle Joseph just arrived and Lucas is about to arrive. I'll go down to greet Lucas while you… try and calm my uncle a little bit. Is that okay?" Farkle told his father who was sitting on his desk looking at the news on the internet.

"This time is bigger, actually. He was caught in a really bad situation." Although his words were not hopeful, he had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, as always. Lucas messes up and we're left to clean up after him to save him." Farkle said with a smile.

"You know, I can't get mad at him." Farkle's father said with a smile on his face now, "I was just like him when I was his age." At that Farkle's smile faltered, "What would he do? He's just like his uncle." Without a word, Farkle nodded and got out of the office to go greet Lucas, and his father didn't seem to notice.

Anyways, after their 'meeting' or whatever you'd like to call it, they both continued on their day. Riley made her way back to the bakery in defeat while Lucas drove to his father's company in frustration. Farkle was making his way out of the company to greet Lucas just as Lucas was pulling up in front of the company. Upon seeing Lucas' window shields, a questioning look took place on Farkle's face.

"Cousin…" He called as Lucas got out of his car, "What… happened?" Lucas went over to him.

Meanwhile with Riley, she'd arrived at the bakery but was too afraid to get in.

"Come on, Riley! You're gonna have to go in no matter how long you stay here… the faster the better anyways…" She encouraged herself before going in. Upon seeing her state, a gasp left Maya's mouth.

"Riley? Girl, what happened to you? What is this state you're in?!" Maya exclaimed as she went to her.

"Don't ask, Maya… I'm done! Our boss will kill me!" Riley said miserably.

 ***AN; Okay so bear with me a little for the next part and open up your mind, Italic is Lucas and Farkle***

" _How did this happen, Lucas?" Farkle asked when Lucas didn't answer him the first time. Lucas looked back at his car before he just blew up._

" _It's all because of that crazy bitch!"_

"Everything happened because of that stupid jerk!" Riley exclaimed angrily.

" _She's crazy! Definitely crazy, dude! She threw herself in front of my car and still had the courage to blame ME! Look what she did! She ruined my car!" Lucas said pointing at his 'ruined' car._

" _How so? She did that to your car?" Farkle said trying to hide his amusement._

"What you did was good. Heck, it's almost nothing considering what he caused you! He deserved it!" Maya said after Riley had finished telling her everything that had happened.

"He thinks that everything can be bought with money, just because he's riding a fancy car." Riley told Maya.

" _I mean of course, she saw a fancy, modern car so she threw herself in front of it. Her goal was probably to get money." Lucas said and Farkle just looked at him with his eyebrows raised._

"He also tried to give me money for the cake without a shame! As if it's something that can be fixed with money. Of course, since he's so used to buying everything with money. Jerk." Riley explained.

" _I tried to give her some money for the cake just so she could shut up, and guess what? Without a shame, she didn't like the money. Thought that it wasn't enough! Such a maniac!"_

" _In my opinion, I think you got away easily, dude! So…" Farkle said and they both looked at the car._

"Well that could've gone way worse, Riley."

"What could be worse than this, Maya? Our boss will definitely fire me!" Riley said with that miserable look back on her face.

"Don't be pessimistic now-"Maya was cut off by their boss' voice.

"I sent out your cake a while ago, sir… why would I lie, sir?" He said to the phone. Both Riley and Maya looked at him with fear before they gave their back to him.

"You'll hurry out of here, okay? He would probably kill you… Run for your life, Riles!" Maya whispered into Riley's ears. Riley was just about to take off when he called her name. "Shit!" Maya said under her breath.

"Come here, Riley!" He said with a stern tone. Riley gulped and took a breath before turning to him, preparing herself for the worse.

" _Send the car to get fixed, I wanted to be done fast, okay?" Lucas said to one of the company's drivers/guards as he handed him the keys._

" _Okay, Mr. Lucas." The man said._ _ **(AN; Is Mr. Lucas right? Idk someone tell me.).**_ _Lucas and Farkle made their way into the company._

" _Is my father here?" Lucas asked._

" _Yes, he is. He's probably looking at the headlines right now." Farkle said in amusement while Lucas grimaced._

" _Only my uncle can calm him down in this situation." Lucas said as they made their way into the elevator._

" _Look at that! Is this scandal number what, Minkus? We were also young. I used to work and study at the same time when I was his age. I took full responsibility of our house, you know that." Joseph said as he paced around his office._

" _I know that, Brother"_

" _We got it, he likes to go out, party, drink, act like a player and have fun with girls, But attacking the reporters, for god's sake?" Joseph said before taking a seat across from Minkus at one of the singular sofas in his office. "We have our reputation in the upper, modern, class. We have our respect!"_

" _You're right, brother."_

" _If he works hard or studies hard, then okay he can have some fun… but no, all he does is play around and party… but it's time for me to put a stop to this. Look at Farkle, considering that they grew up together, he's also young but he has nothing to do with him"_

" _Excuse me, Brother… you really did spoil Lucas. Look, it's been a week since college was over and I already made Farkle start working. Tomorrow, he's going to Florida and he'll work till the end of summer at the hotel we recently bought…"_

" _And my son will be spending his summer in France with his girlfriend." Joseph said sarcastically, "No, no. You're right, I did spoil him- We… We spoiled him" Right when he said that, a knock was heard before the door opened._

" _Dad… I think you're talking to Uncle Minkus about something important… I'll come back later…" Lucas was about to close the door when his father got up._

" _Lucas!" He said sternly not looking at him, "Come here." Lucas gulped in fear and looked at his uncle who just shrugged indicating that he was on his own. Lucas and Farkle got in, closing the door behind them._

"Sir, I'm really sorry… Like I told you, I don't know how this happened. I was about to be run over by a car and of course in the middle of all of that, the cake flew out of my hands and into-"

"Enough, Riley… There's isn't something bad that I haven't heard from my boss because of you. You can't even succeed in delivering orders!" Their boss said angrily, "Look, Riley, I'm gonna try to do this in the nicest way possible. You're fired! I told you that this was an important delivery! And you weren't just late! You didn't even deliver it at all! So you are fired!" the boss said with a sharp tone and Riley nodded while looking at the ground, trying to hide her tears.

"And I quit." Maya said as a matter of fact.

"Well then goodbye to you too, Maya." He said before leaving. Riley took her bandana off and used it to tie her full-of-cake hair into a high ponytail before she gathered her stuff along with Maya and they left the store together. Riley looked back at the bakery sadly and she was on the verge of tears.

"Well, look at that.." Maya said a little awkwardly, "I was supposed to be the one leaving work today… It's a sign, Riles. Come with me." At that, Riley laughed.

"Where? To Florida?" Riley said sarcastically.

"Yep, we'll work together."

"I don't know… is that possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be? I mean, the Hotel was sold so that's why they're hiring new people. I'll talk to them about you immediately. The salary is really good! We'll earn the salary of a month, in a week approximately. As well as the tips and we don't even have to pay for anything. Our stay and food are for free. It'll be a vacation and work at the same time, how can you pass this opportunity?"

"I still don't know… would my mother agree?"

"We're not going anywhere, girl. It's a fancy hotel. Besides, aren't you in need for money? You got to college but you still don't know how you'll study. We'll work during the summer and earn a lot of money so that we can study peacefully." Another thing about Maya is, she's really convincing when she wants to be. She can convince you that water is actually not clear but colored.

"Well, what you're saying is true… Look, I'll talk to my mother tonight and tell you what she says, okay?"

"Okay… now let's go eat, I'm starving." Maya said and the girls both laughed before the headed to their favorite restaurant.

 **So back to Lucas…**

"When will you ever become a true man, Lucas? Didn't I tell you about fifty times that I don't want to hear anymore news or accidents about you?!" His father retrieved the newspaper which he'd earlier thrown on the coffee table, "You're their main talk, Lucas… Again!"

"What do I have to do with it, dad?" Lucas tried to play the innocent card on him, knowing that it won't work, "Am I not allowed to go and have fun with my friends? You're overreacting as if I did something serious"

"WHAT CAN YOU DO MORE?!" His father yelled as he threw the newspaper down in frustration. "I receive awards and get chosen as Business man of the year, and you? You go hand out with GIRLS and above that, attack reporters." He sat down once more, "But that's enough. You're not allowed to drive your car, you'll give me all of your credit cards, and all your bank accounts will be frozen, until you become a man." At that, shock was written across Farkle's and Lucas' faces. "You and Farkle are going to take care of the hotel we recently bought in Florida. Farkle will be watching you." Farkle nodded at that while biting his lips.

"Dad, are you KIDDING me? I'm going to France next week with Kayli!" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief.

"France? Forget all about France! Even going to Florida is too good for you and you're saying France? If I were you, I'd thank god that I was going to Florida as a punishment. You won't just chill there, you'll work like a man. Is that understood?"

"What do I even I understand about hotel work, dad?" Lucas said trying to change his father's mind.

"You'll learn, son. You'll learn." Joseph said, a smile finally taking place on his face as he left the office.

"Dad!" Lucas called as he went after him.

"Dad… are you the one who pushed the idea into Uncle Joseph's head?" Farkle said happily.

"Shuush!" his father shushed him putting a finger to his lips, "Don't let Lucas hear you." He said and winked at him. Farkle smiled excitedly, biting his lips once more.

After a little while, it was time for Farkle and Lucas to leave the company so they made their way out together.

"I'm over. What am I gonna do, cousin?" Lucas said dramatically, "Everything happened because of you."

"Hey, what do I have to do with this?"

"Why do you have to be such a good man?" Lucas asked with a smirk.

"Oh, don't put that into your mind, Cousin. Florida isn't that bad." Farkle said with a big smile.

"Just so you know, I'll sleep and you'll work."

"Just like we always do." Farkle said with a laugh as he made his way to the driver's seat of his car and got in while Lucas got into the passenger seat. Farkle drove off and they both sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward.

"I couldn't speak to Kayli since this morning, she must be going crazy right now." Lucas said as he dialed her number.

"Good luck."

Kayli was sitting by the pool in her backyard enjoying the sun on her very pale body when her phone rang.

"Finally." She said sarcastically as she saw Lucas' name on the screen. "Yes?" she said.

"Hey, Kay… how are you? What are you doing? I heard that the sun is really shinning today at the UK. You must be enjoying it." Lucas said trying to delay the dreaded subject and failing, miserably.

"What do you think I'm doing, Lucas? I'm waiting for an explanation about what was published today about last night since this morning!" she said angrily.

"Waiting for an explanation… of course that's what you were doing." Farkle sneaked a glance at Lucas then brought his eyes back to the road. "It's really exaggerated, babe. That girl is Farkle's girlfriend, I don't have anything to do with her.

"What the hell are you saying, dude!" Farkle whisper-yelled at Lucas while Lucas just ignored him.

"Farkle's girlfriend? Really?" Kayli said.

"Yeah, Farkle had already left before us so when they saw us walking next to each other they thought that we were together. And when the flashes went off, I got mad. That's what happened… or did you believe that the girl was really with me?" Lucas knew that by putting her into the guilt trip…. She'll forgive him.

"Well… of course I did. You live in LA and I live in Brighton, London. Misunderstandings are bound to happen between us. Anyways, we'll be together next week and we'll enjoy our entire summer in France, the city of Love." Kayli said and he could sense the smile in her voice.

"Umm… well about that… um you see, it's not really that clear anymore." Lucas said hesitantly.

"How so?" at that Kayli sat up in her pool chair.

"My dad made a major problem out of me going to France when he heard the news… He said that I'll work at the Hotel we recently bought in Miami, Florida, this summer. He's trying to teach me a lesson, according to him."

"That means that we're not going to France, Lucas, because your father wants you to WORK at one of your hotels…" Kayli said with a sarcastic laugh, "Do you think that I'll believe this stupid lie? Look you can just say that you don't want to go to France with me, you don't need to lie to me." She hung up not even giving him time to answer.

"Lying? I'm not lying… Kayli-" Lucas took the phone off his ear to find that she'd hung up on him. "You know, I don't really understand women. It's not clear what they'll believe and what they won't believe." They both laughed and Farkle continued driving until they reached their favorite restaurant to have lunch.

* * *

The hours passed and Riley finally felt like it was an okay hour to go home without freaking her mother out because of returning home early. Her mum was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she heard the door of their house open.

"Mum! I'm home!" Riley yelled as she made her way into the living room. She was nervous, but she was doing a good job hiding it. It was just a little bit past six, she usually got off work at quarter past nine and arrived home at 9:45.

"Welcome home, honey. Did something happen at work? Why are you home early?" Her mother said worriedly as she made her way towards the living room.

"No… nothing happened, mum." Riley shook her head, "Now tell me, how did your interview go?"

"It went really well. I'll start tomorrow, they'll try my food and if they like it, the job is mine." Topanga said happily and Riley smiled so big.

"I'm so happy for you, mum!" Riley exclaimed as she hugged her. "See, I told you that it'll go well!"

"You did… this interview was so important to me, Riley. I was a huge burden on your back for the past year, baby girl."

"Don't say that, Mum. What burden are you talking about? Above all that, who do we have other than each other?" Riley said with a sad smile and her mum took her into her arms.

"My little girl… Riley, what happened to you, baby? Why did you get off early?"

"Um… I didn't get off early… I was fired."

"What? Why?" Riley told her what had happened with Lucas. "Are you alright, baby girl?"

"How can I be, Mum? I lost my job."

"So? Things like that happen all the time, Riles. You'll find somewhere better." At that, Riley perked up.

"Actually… there IS somewhere better…" she trailed off.

"See? I told you."

"It's a five star hotel… Maya will also work there. They're looking for employees because it just got sold and the conditions are really good as well as the salary. Maya told me that she could talk to them about me." Riley told her mother excitedly.

"What are you waiting for? Let her do it." Topanga said with a smile.

"Wonderful!" Riley said then remembered the rest and pretended to be sad, "Wonderful but…"

"But what, Riles?"

"The hotel isn't in LA, mum…" Topanga's expression began to change to a frown at that.

"Then where?"

"Miami, Florida…" Her mother opened her mouth to refuse but Riley stopped her. "Mum, please. Think about it before you refuse."

"Look Riley, I trust you but I don't trust your surroundings. So No, you can't go. What are you gonna do there? You're just a girl, by yourself, anything bad could happen to you."

"Mum… it isn't just any place mum. It's a five star hotel. We'll work and sleep there. Besides, if I work there for just this season, I'll save up more than enough money for college. What am I gonna do if I stayed here? Besides, is it that easy to find jobs here? Please, mum. Please.." Riley knew that she'd succeeded in making her mother warm up to the idea. "Mummy… Please?" She gave her mother her best irresistible puppy eyes.

"Don't look at me like that…" Topanga said with a smile but the puppy eyes didn't go away, "You know I can't resist you looking at me with your father's big chocolate brown eyes like that."

"Please…"

"Okay, okay. You can go…" Riley jumped into her mother's arms in joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise you won't regret trusting me and sending me there." Riley promised as she kissed her mother's cheeks. "I'll… go call Maya and tell her, now" with that, she ran up to her room and Topanga just laughed before looking at Cory's picture that was hanged on the wall with the black ribbon on it.

"You would've been really proud of the young lady she's grown to be, Cory. We raised her good, baby. If you were still alive, you're head would've been held so high with pride." Her eyes filled with tears before she smiled, "Dinner is ready, Riles." She shouted from her place to Riley upstairs.

The next morning, Both Riley and Lucas got up early and got ready. When she was finished, Riley took her bright green suitcase with her and went downstairs after struggling with the heavy suitcase.

"Riley, what are you doing? You'll hurt your back baby girl." Topanga said as she rushed towards her with a big lunch box filled with different types of homemade snacks.

"I'm so late, Mum!" Riley exclaimed.

"Here take this in your backpack, in case you get hungry." She handed her the Lunch box.

"Mum, I'll be on a plane, they'll feed me up there."

"Yeah, I know. But this is homemade. I made you all your favorites." Topanga opened Riley's backpack, which was still on her back, herself and shoved the lunch box inside. "Trust me you'll need it because you will get hungry!"

"Okay, Okay. I need to hurry, though." Riley said as she pulled her suitcase to the door hurriedly with her mother's help. She put on her red converse and laced it up.

"Riley, look at me…" Riley looked at her from her position on the floor. "Call me when you arrive at Florida, okay? Don't leave me worrying, baby girl."

"Okay, Mummy." Riley said with a smile before she hugged her mum tightly, trying hard not to cry. After saying goodbye, Riley left after telling her mother that Maya will be waiting for her at the airport.

"Look Mum, You promised me that you'll convince my dad to let me go to France. I'm not staying in Florida for more than two weeks, just so you know. If I have to stay there more than that, I won't come back again to this house, okay?" Lucas said then started walking to the front door backwards as his mother gasped.

"Okay, okay. Just calm down, son. Let your father calm down first then I promise I'll talk to him. You're going with Farkle, right?" Lucas turned his back to her with a sigh.

"No, there wasn't any empty seats on his flight so I was pushed to the flight after it because I bought my ticket last minute."

"Okay… You'll miss your flight that way… you better hurry!" Just as he was about to open the front door, she stopped him. "Wait… I almost forgot." She hurriedly when to the isle that was by the door when her bag was placed and took out her wallet. Lucas smirked at that. "Take these…" She handed him money that'll probably cover him for two months or so, "Take this as well In case you need it." She handed him her credit card. "Don't tell you father, huh." She said and Lucas smiled before hugging her. "Call me when you arrive, okay?"

"Okay, Mum. Goodbye…" Lucas said as he left the house and made his way to the car.

* * *

About half an hour later, they both arrived at the airport where Riley was struggling with her suitcase and went flying into Lucas' arms.

 _I've never seen a pair of brown eyes look this pretty…_ Lucas thought to himself as he looked into her eyes for these very brief seconds.

Riley jumped out of his arms upon realizing who he is.

"YOU AGAIN?!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"Watch out! You were about to fall over me and take me down with you!" Lucas said angrily.

"You can be sure that this will never happen again" Riley said angrily as well but with a slight smirk on her face. "I'd rather fall into a blind well than fall on top of you." With that, she adjusted the straps of her backpack before bending down and retrieving the suitcase that had fallen down as Lucas took hold of his own suitcase. They both dragged them to the automatic door and struggled to get in due to bumping into each other.

When they did get into the airport, They looked at each other with disgust.

"Maniac." Lucas said.

"Jerk." Riley said back before they both went opposite ways.

They both made their way to the check in desks but because Lucas had a first class ticket and Riley had Economy one, they weren't anywhere near each other. Riley found Maya standing in one of the lines for the check in desks and cut into line, after taking permission of course, to stand with Maya. When they saw each other they hugged excitedly.

"I still can't believe that you're coming with me." Maya said in excitement.

"Yeah, Me either." Riley said with a big smile. The person in front of them finished checking in so they moved forward and gave their ID and passports to the woman sitting there. She gave Maya her ticket first and wished her a good trip.

"Miss Mathews… unfortunately there's a small problem." The woman said, "Your ticket was sold to someone else."

"What? How so? What are we gonna do now?" Riley questioned.

"We're really sorry for that, Ma'am." The accountant said

"Well, you're saying sorry but what is that gonna do? May I speak to the manager, please?"

"Ms. Mathews, please calm down. There's an empty seat in the first class, we'll put you there." The lady said with a warm smile trying to calm Riley down.

"I can't fly in a different class, at all." Riley exclaimed.

"It's the first class, girl. Shut up." Maya said before looking at the accountant, "She'll take it." The lady looked at Riley and Riley nodded in defeat.

"okay, then." She typed away on her computer.

"My luck is starting to get better, huh?." Riley whispered to Maya.

"Here you go, have a safe flight." She handed her, her ticket, passport and ID.

"Thank you, have a good day." Riley said. She and Maya made their way to their gate and luckily for them the gate was just opening so they went into the plane right away.

"Wait, let's take a selfie!" Maya said as she stopped them in the middle of the plane with her phone up to take a selfie. Riley smiled and Maya took a selfie. They earned a few huffs from the other passengers trying to get to their seats so they decided to do the same. "That's my seat, come on sit down." Maya said as they shoved their backpacks into the little compartments on top of their seats.

"But Maya, that's not my seat…"

"We'll ask whoever's seat this is to take yours instead. I don't think they'll mind, you have a first class ticket after all." With that they sat down.

"I'm so nervous, Maya. I've never been on a plane before."

"Me either… but it'll be fine. We'll make it out alive, hopefully." Maya said calming herself and Riley. Maya's parents died on an airplane when she was about six and her brother at the time was eight. Ever since then, Maya had this fear of planes, she refused to get on one ever since. They had to live with their grandmother until she passed away a few years ago and that's where they're still living.

"Excuse me? This is my seat…" a handsome young man with brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes said. He appeared to be in his early twenties.

"Um, can you please do us a favor?" Riley said as she looked at him with a hopeful smile. He smiled back at her while Maya was just staring.

"Yeah, sure." The guy said.

"No, no. We don't need any favors. She was just going to find her seat." Maya said. _What? The guy is hot… I'm sure Riley will understand._ She thought to herself.

"What the hell are you doing?" Riley whisper-yelled when the guy turned away to put his luggage away. "Didn't you say that we'll ask him to switch places?"

"Yeah, that was before knowing that he'd be hot." Maya stated.

"Where the first class?" Riley said with a sigh.

"At the front, baby girl. Enjoy." Riley glared at her before getting up and taking her backpack, then heading to the front of the plane. "Sorry we made you wait, I'm Maya by the way." She told the guy after he sat down.

"It's okay, I'm Adam. Nice to meet you." Adam said with a smile.

Just as Riley entered the first class, she bumped into someone because she was looking down at her ticket.

"I'm so-" She started to apologize before she took notice of who it was. "Unbelievable."

"This is way too much. What kind of joke is this?" Lucas said with disbelief.

"As if I'm overjoyed to be on the same plane as you are." Lucas ignored that comment and put his jacket inside the compartment before he looked around the seats as he saw the flight attendants closing the compartments, meaning that the class is complete.

"We're not seated next to each other, are we?" Lucas said and Riley just looked around her. He snatched her ticket from her hand and looked at it. 1B. Wonderful. His seat was 1A. "I won't sit next you." He stated as he took his seated.

"Actually, I'm the one who will never sit next you. I don't even want to be on the same plane as you… so please go find yourself another seat." Riley said and Lucas sighed in annoyance.

"Excuse me? Is there an empty seat on this plane? Can you take this lady to another seat?" Lucas asked one of the flight attendants who just smiled.

"What? Why do I have to have another seat? You change your seat." Riley stated as a matter of fact.

"Will you shut up?" Lucas asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. The plane is about to take off. Will you please take your seat, Miss?"

Lucas sighed in annoyance while Riley sighed in defeat as she threw her bag into the compartment before closing it and sitting down. Lucas looked at her, and now that everything was over, he could read the fear on her face.

"Please fasten your seat belts for takeoff."

They both fastened their seat belts and a few moments later, Riley felt the plane moving. She closed her eyes tightly and chewed on her gum harder as the plane started to takeoff. When it was okay for them to unfasten their seatbelts, they both did and Lucas leaned his chair back to take a nap.

"Um… can we switch seats please?" Riley asked nervously since Lucas had the window seat.

"No." Lucas said simply with his eyes closed.

"I'm feeling curious about the way it looks…"

"No." Riley sat back in frustration and crossed her arms.

"Jerk." She spat.

" _So that means that you also work at Miami." Maya said to Adam. They haven't stopped talking since the plane took off._

" _Yeah, I'm a bartender at a club."_

" _Really? What club?"_

" _The Blue Angel club, here's my card"_ _ ***AN; I just made that up, lol***_

" _I'll probably pass by and have a drink."_

" _I'd like that." They both smiled at each other._

Riley sighed again out of boredom. She decided to take a risk and have a look. She leaned over Lucas' sleeping body slowly until she saw everything from the window. When Lucas felt her long hair tickling his arms and chest, he sat up bumping his head onto the side of her head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lucas said angrily.

"Hey, don't get mad! I told you to switch seats." Riley said as she sat back in her chair. Lucas threw his head back before sighing in annoyance.

"Okay, okay! But under one condition." He said as he turned in his chair to look at her, "You won't talk to me or touch me in any way or form until we land, deal?" He said with a stern look and Riley nodded multiple times.

"I promise you. Deal." She said as a smile took place on her face. They both went to stand up but ended up bumping into each other... twice.

"Your promise lasted for two freaking seconds!" Lucas exclaimed in a whisper.

"As if I'm crazy about you-"

"Look at you! You're still talking!" Lucas said as he pointed his finger at her. She raised her hands as an apology and stepped back so that he could get out. When he did, she sat in his seat and he sat in hers.

"Thank you!" She said as she looked out of the window with a very big smile on her face. Lucas looked at her as she was leaning over her chair to look at the window and just shook his head then closed his eyes to continue his nap. They've only been on the plane for two hours. They still have four hours till they arrive. ( **AN; I read that it takes 5 to 6 hours to fly from LA to Florida. Feel free to correct me!)**

They finally landed after what seemed like forever and they both took their seatbelts off. Lucas stood up and reached up into their compartment as Riley stood up to do the same and bumped into him on her way. He looked at her in annoyance and she just looked away and reached up into the compartment, tiptoeing a little. She yanked her backpack out as he yanked his leather jacket and carryon bag out. They bumped into each other again as Riley was putting on her backpack and looked at each other.

"I hope we don't meet ever again." Lucas said as he looked at her.

"That's what I hope, too." With that, they went opposite ways.

* * *

 **So, here you go... now you have the whole back story to their meeting at the airport.**

 **And yes, Cory is dead... I didn't want to make him dead but that was the only way for me to do it to achieve what I want with Riley's life and back story.**

 **Anyways, I really hope that you're enjoying this story so far. Don't be a silent reader and leave me a review telling me what you thought of it.**

 **Question; How do you think their relationship will develop (Doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic one)? Will it even develop or will Riley stick to the 'bakery guy' who btw, will be making many appearances?**

 **Also, who do you think should be Maya's brother (doesn't have to be from the GMW characters)? and who do you think will be her 'Summer fling' as she called it?**

 **Also, to clear up everything, Riley and Maya are twenty while Lucas and Farkle are twenty-two.**

 **Love always,**

 **Haneen xx.**

 **I really hope that you're enjoying the story so far.**


	4. Chapter4: Are you Okay?

**Hello, Lovely people of the internet!**

 **First off, I'd really like to thank everyone who's supporting this story and those who take time to review and tell me their thoughts. You guys are really appreciated.**

 **As for those who read silently, please don't. Reviews really do boost my confidence about this story and my determination to continue and update as frequently as possible.**

 **Anyways, I don't know where this chapter is gonna end on, but if everything goes as I planned, you'll know who the bakery guy is/was by the end of this chapter.**

 **Happy reading, Enjoy! xx**

* * *

People are thrown into each other's ways all the time. No matter what the reason is… but the thing is, there's always a reason. So no matter how much you hate that person's sudden presence in your day, be sure that there's definitely something behind it.

Who knows what you could do for that person and vice versa?

What if you're thrown into each other's lives to change, not only each other's lives upside down, but to change each other as well?

Well, we'll see.

* * *

After getting off the plane, Riley met Maya at the baggage reclaim area to get the bags. Lucas was on the phone with Farkle with his bag already by his side, telling him that he's landed and asking about where they'll meet to go to the hotel.

He went outside after Farkle had told him that he's waiting for him outside. He was instantly met with the extremely hot weather of Miami and he thanked god that he didn't wear his jacket after landing. Just like he said, Farkle was waiting right in front of the arrivals exit while leaning on the side of his white car. Farkle was wearing a much suitable outfit for the weather, a pair of maroon red jean shorts, white converse and a white V-neck. When he saw Lucas, he straightened up to greet him. They did the guys' handshake-side hug kind of thing before Farkle took Lucas' bag and put into the back of the car and Lucas put his carryon bag and his jacket on the back seat.

Just as Farkle started driving the car, Riley and Maya made their way out of the airport. Maya was still talking with Adam, much to Riley's annoyance. They said good bye to Adam and got into the Taxi that they've asked for in the airport and the driver drove off.

( **AN; I've never been to the US, let alone Miami, before so I don't really know exactly how everything looks and what's the differences between LA and Miami. So excuse me if I'm far off reality)**

All the way, Riley and Maya were looking at the landscapes and how pretty the places looked. There was a lot of balm trees and normal trees and somehow the ocean looked a lot prettier in Miami with it blue-greenish color that just looks magical under the sun.

"I still can't believe that we're actually here, Maya…" Riley trailed off as she kept looking out the window.

"Me either…. The place is so pretty, isn't it?" Maya said distractedly as well.

"Yes... It's a good thing that you invited me… It's a good thing that I came." Riley said with a smile.

"I told you, honey. No need to thank me." Maya said with a smile and a flip of her beautiful blonde waves. They were going to a more local, country-ish part in Miami so they were in the taxi for quite a while.

As for Lucas, Farkle pulled up in front of a really fancy Hotel which overlooks the beach. Lucas was in love with the place from the outside, even though he hated being in Miami in general. They got out of the car as the hotel's porter and driver opened their doors for them.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to the Aquamarine hotel." The driver told Farkle as he got out of the car and the porter told Lucas. ( **An; I just made the name up based on the aquamarine movie.)**

"Hello" Lucas and Farkle said before heading into the hotel. The porter went to get the bags out and the driver helped him before taking the car into the hotel's parking.

"The place is prettier than I'd imagined." Lucas said as he looked around him and Farkle just smiled in response. As they went inside, every girl that was passing by stared at Lucas and some even stopped what they were doing to drool. At that, a smirk took place on Lucas' face. That's the kind of reaction he's used to, which is the opposite of Riley's reaction to him. Farkle just shook his head at the smug look on Lucas' face. Lucas looked around the hotel, noticing how nicely decorated it was. It was very chic and fancy on the outside, and even chicer and fancier on the inside.

Riley and Maya have been in taxi for about forty minutes and they were still on a somewhat deserted road.

"The hotel seems so far away, Maya." Riley said worryingly and whiningly.

"Yeah." Maya said with a huff.

"I hope he's not driving us around on purpose." Riley whispered to Maya. Maya looked at her wide eyed before looking at the driver through the rearview mirror.

"Excuse me, sir. Are we there yet?" she asked and he looked at her briefly before looking at the road again.

"No, but we're almost there."

"That means that we haven't arrived yet." Riley stated annoyed.

"What should I do, then? Should I fly?"

"You're already flying with how fast you're driving. You flipped our insides out. Slow down, will you?" Maya said in a somewhat harsh tone.

"You talk a lot. You can get off here if you don't like it." He said as he stopped the car in the middle of the road.

"What? Get off? Who do you think you are?" Maya said angrily now and he turned to look at her.

"Get out of my taxi." Maya looked at Riley with her mouth open.

"Get out how? What will we do? Walk till we reach the hotel?" Riley said calmly.

"It's not my problem, I don't care whether you go on foot or flying."

"But we're still far and it too hot… and we have bags as well." Riley said before she put her best puppy dog eyes and cute face as he looked at her and said in a very nice tone, "Please? Just take us there…. Please?"

"You should thank god for your friend here." The driver said as he looked at Maya through the mirror and started driving. He didn't drive two feet before Maya ruined it.

"What do you mean with thank god for your friend? Aren't you a taxi driver? As long as we're in your taxi, you'll take us wherever we please." Riley Face palmed herself, "We pay you anyways."

"Calm down, Maya, Please!" Riley whispered as she tugged on Maya's arm.

"Wait a minute, Riles." Maya said as she yanked her arm back, "He's obligated to take us to the hotel, he won't throw us out of the car!"

"I'll sue you!" Maya yelled after the taxi driver as he drove off while Riley just looked at her angrily. Riley took her bag and started pulling it with her as she walked and Maya did the same.

"I…. was resolving…. It… if only… you closed… your mouth." Riley said breathlessly. She was out of breath and covered in sweat, and they haven't even walked 3 miles.

"How could I know… that he'd really throw us… out of his car?" Maya said breathlessly as well, "You're right. I should've kept my stupid mouth shut." Riley huffed and tucked her hair away from her face. "Riley, Look! We're here! We're here! See the hotel is right there!" Maya said excitedly while pointing to a sign that was about ten feet away. Riley smiled in relief. "We'll get into the hotel now and forget everything…. We'll take a day off as they probably won't make us work right away. We'll go chill on the beach for some time… Come on. We'll forget everything and everything will be just fine, I promise." Riley nodded, not being able to talk because of how tired she was.

They rushed to the hotel as fast as they can, despite their tiredness. Once they'd reached the gate, Riley stopped in her tracks and scoffed at what she was seeing.

"Doesn't it look a bit different than the pictures?" Maya asked confused. In the pictures, it appeared to be a fancy five stars hotel on the outskirts of Miami. What they were seeing was a place that could be mistaken for as a farm or something. It was super deserted and it didn't look anywhere near five stars.

"A little…" Riley said unsure while looking at it.

"But it's not bad…" Maya said as she looked at Riley, hoping that she wouldn't be mad at her.

"Um… yeah, it isn't." Riley said and they headed towards the worn down gate and opened it after having some trouble because of how heavy it was. They looked around as they made their way inside looking for the actual entrance for the hotel itself. "It looks closed…"

"No, honey. Why would it be closed?" They looked around them. It didn't look like anyone was living there because of how deserted it was.

"Did we even come to the right place, Maya?"

"Well, wait… let me check." She stopped to take her phone out of her backpack and looked through it for the address, "No… it's the right place…"

"HELLOOOO! IS SOMEONE HERE?!" Riley shouted.

"Yes, ladies?" Someone appeared and said from behind them, startling the both of them.

"Excuse me… we came here for work, who do we have to meet?" Maya said politely.

"Unfortunately, there's no one else here but me. The hotel is closed. Apparently, it was about to be sold but the buyer went through a heart attack." At that…. Maya knew that she's in some big trouble with Riley.

"Oh would you look at that!" Maya said as she turned to a fuming Riley, "Nobody knows what will happen in this life…" the guy nodded while Riley just glared at Maya with a scowl on her face.

"If we don't get into a hotel, right now, it's pretty self-explanatory what will happen to you…" Riley whispered angrily as she took hold of Maya's arm. Maya was scared.

"But the old owner is gonna open it up again, right?" She asked hoping that the guy will confirm her words.

"Yes, yes. He will reopen it." They both looked at each other and smiled in relief, "It will be reopened two years from now so on 2018."

"2018?!" They both exclaimed/asked in disbelief and the guy nodded. Riley took a deep breath as she looked at Maya angrily.

"Riley, how was I supposed to know? This is something unpredictable. The guy went through a heart attack and died… how was I supposed to know that?" Maya explained to Riley.

"Why didn't they tell you that when you called before dragging us here?" Riley asked in a stern tone. At that, Maya adverted her eyes to the ground and bit her lip. "Maya? Maya, you called, didn't you?" Riley asked, now begging her to say yes. When Maya just continued looking at the ground and biting her lips, Riley lost it. "I can't believe you, Maya! A person calls and asks before heading anywhere, right? We left our homes to come to this place and you didn't even call beforehand? I really can't believe you!"

"Riley… Riley, here's what we'll do. We'll calm down first and then we'll find ourselves somewhere to stay, alright?" Maya said trying to calm Riley down, desperately. "Is there a hotel near here?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much hotels around here."

"There isn't!" Riley said on the verge of tears.

"But… Honey, I saw a lot of hotels on our way here!" Maya said to Riley, trying to calm her down and prevent her from crying.

"Move, Maya, Let's go. I'll kill you, you know that right? Move!" Riley took hold of Maya's arm once again and dragged her towards the exit after nodding to the guy.

"Have a nice day!" Maya said to the guy as she was dragged away.

"You too!"

They kept walking for about an hour until they finally reached a hotel named 'Aquamarine' which looked really chic and fancy from the outside and was overlooking the ocean. They made their way inside and stopped to admire the inside of the place which was even prettier than the outside. They both smiled and made their way to the reception counter.

"Hello…" Riley said with a smile as she looked at the handsome receptionist. He had brown hair that was falling into his eyes slightly, blue eyes that you can only notice from up close and was wearing a black suit with aqua blue tie.

"Hello, how can I help you?" He smiled at them.

"Hello… I wonder if you have any available rooms." Maya asked tiredly.

"You don't have a reservation as I understood." Riley shook her head.

"Unfortunately, no." Maya said.

"Well, I'll check right now." He looked at the computer for a moment, "A room for two, right?" he asked while looking at Maya, Who nodded. "Okay…. We only have one room available."

"Um… how much does it cost?" Maya said a little skeptical.

"800 dollars per night." The girls looked at each other before Riley spoke.

"Actually, we came here to work in a hotel that's near here but it's closed." The guy nodded seemingly interested in their story. "Do you think we could find a more suitable hotel in this area?"

"There's isn't a more suitable hotel… I mean there are motels but they're in the downtown of the city…"

"Alright… thank you." Maya told him with a sad smile.

"Is there another way to reach the downtown other than taxi? Um… taxis are a bit expensive here…" Riley asked.

"Unfortunately, no…"

"Well, thank you." Riley said as they turned to leave while he looked at them thinking about something.

"Wait… wait." They turned to him and he looked around before he leaned towards them to whisper, "They're hiring people these days… I could help you, if you'd like that."

"Really!" Riley exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah… Today, the hotel's new owner is here. That's why there's extra work to do, but I can hook you up on a job interview in two hours."

"Thank you so much!" Maya said and he just smiled, "So can we wait outside on the beach?"

"That's okay."

"But our bags…" Maya wondered out loud, "Can we leave them here?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll ask them to take them."

"Okay, the bags are here." Riley said with a smile as the guy looked at Maya with a smile and nodded. They turned and made their way to the other door which lead them to the pool area and the beach.

"Would you look at that! Our luck is coming back, girl!" Maya said as she linked arms with Riley.

"I almost lost all the hope I had in me." Riley said with a smile.

"Well, we have two hours… what do you think about getting into the water and lay down for a tan?"

"Can we do that?"

"Why not? Come on, there's a bathroom there, let's go change." Maya pointed at the pool's bathroom. Luckily, they both had a bathing suit in their backpacks. Just as they went inside, Lucas and Farkle made their way out of the elevator.

"Hello, sir." The hotel Manager greeted Farkle and Lucas as they greeted him back and shook hands. "Let me show you around the hotel before the meeting, if you'd like that."

"Why not? We can do that." Farkle said as Lucas nodded with a slight smile and they went after the manager.

Riley and Maya went out of the bathroom after putting on their bikinis. Riley wore her blue dress on top of her navy blue strapless bikini as a cover up, and Maya put on her Jean shorts overalls on top of her Pink bikini. They made their way to the beach chairs and took off their clothes. They laid down on the chairs after spreading the towels that they were given underneath them.

As usual, Farkle was left by himself with the Manager to look around the hotel while Lucas went to the beach to enjoy his time. Girls were all over him, but who could blame them? Sandy blonde hair, green eyes and amazing chest and packs? Seems like the guy you'd go to the beach just to see shirtless. Some girl would offer him drinks to have with him even. He was on a built-in bridge that was inside the ocean itself and he went inside under a built-in roof that looked like a little hut from the outside and laid down on one of the chairs beside a girl who was wearing a pretty revealing white bikini.

Riley and Maya were splashing each other with water and just goofing around when Riley tripped and fell into the water. She flailed her arms around before Maya hurriedly pulled her out and they both laughed as Riley took deep breaths.

The Manager was now showing Farkle the pool area and after that he was gonna show him the beach.

Riley and Maya got out of the water and laid back down on their chairs under their umbrellas. Riley looked to the side and was cruelly reminded of how hungry she is after seeing a couple eating a very good looking burger sandwich. Maya followed her gaze and they both licked their lips before asking for menus. Everything was so pricey as well. Maya laid back in frustration as Riley suddenly remembered something. She opened her backpack and took out the huge lunch box that her mother had given her. It was filled with a lot of goodies. Cookies, mini sandwiches, cupcakes, vegetables and other things.

"My mum insisted that I take this with me… Now I'm really thankful that she did." She told Maya as she opened every container in the lunch box and they started eating.

"It's almost night time and the guy didn't call us… I wonder if he was able to meet the owner." Riley said as she looked at the sun setting and people leaving the beach.

"I don't know… He would've at least told us if he'd met him." Maya said.

"I'll go and see then." Riley said preparing to get up.

"No, no. I'll go." Maya said as she hurriedly got up and started putting her overalls back on since she was already wearing her strapless crop top. Riley looked at her with a smirk.

"And why is that?"

"Nothing, honey. I'll go for a chat that's all. You wait here." She put her flip-flops back on and went towards the hotel. Riley shook her head and smiled, understanding her friends' actions. She sighed and then her phone started ringing so she took a deep breath before answering.

"Hey, Mum…"

"Riley, honey. How are you? How did things go?" Topanga asked through the phone while she was cutting up the vegetable for the salad for the Friars' dinner.

"We're okay… We're at the hotel right now."

"Is there a problem, riles?" Topanga asked as she went around the kitchen to check on the food.

"No, everything is going just fine, mum… don't worry."

"Riley, did you start working, baby?" She asked as she sat down after making sure that the food is fine.

"No… they gave today off because it's our first day here and stuff." Riley said trying not to make her mother sense anything.

" _Mum… were you able to talk to dad?" Lucas asked as he walked on the almost empty beach._

" _It hasn't even been twenty-four since you've been gone, honey… what's the rush?" Cathy said as she made her way to the living room. "Are you enjoying your time there?"_

" _Mum, I was supposed to be visiting the Eiffel tower by now. I don't know if I can get you to understand that." He was now walking behind the first row of chairs, nearing Riley's chair._

"The place here is like heaven, Mum. I wish you were here with me to see it. The sunset looks so pretty from here…. Oh I almost forgot, how did your first day of work go?"

"It's going well until now. Dinner is almost ready and then me and Kate are going to make the table then I'll go back home for the day."

" _Alright, Lucas. I'll talk to your father but please stay calm there and don't cause any problems… please." Cathy pleaded._

"Alright, Mum. I'm sending you my kisses… Goodbye." Riley and Lucas both said to their mothers before hanging up. Lucas passed from behind Riley's chair and neither of them seemed to notice the went to get up just as Lucas passed her so she didn't see him. Just as she was making her way around the chairs she bumped into Maya.

"What happened?" Riley asked.

"Their manager was in a meeting the entire day so he couldn't talk to him. He said he'll talk to him in the morning, though."

"What are we going to do until tomorrow morning?" At that, Maya smiled.

"Well, in my opinion, since we're in Miami…" she trailed off before taking a card out of her pockets, "Let's enjoy our time…" She smiled as she waved the card in front of Riley's face. Riley just smiled at her friend because she knew that the card was Adam's as it said 'Blue angels' on it. "What's wrong?"

It was seven thirty and Farkle was finally done with today's work so he put on a black muscle tee and some gym shorts and shoes before heading into the gym. Although it didn't look like it due to how thin he is, the boy has some muscles. It just doesn't show as much as Lucas'. But his chest was firm and his packs were just as prominent as Lucas'.

There was a girl lifting weights and just wouldn't take her eyes off of him, which kind of annoyed him. She went to stand beside where he was doing his pull ups and continued lifting the weights as Lucas made his way into the gym with a hot pink muscle tee, black gym shorts and black gym shoes that had the Nike sign on them in hot pink. He looked at the scene with a slight smirk as he leaned on a wall, right by the door.

"Hello." The girl said as she looked at Farkle with a flirtatious look on her face. Farkle looked at her before going back to his work out. He let go of the thing he pulled himself up by and gave her a very tight smile before heading to another machine. Lucas looked at the girl with a bigger smirk as she put the weights away and made her way towards the door, purposefully walking from in front of Farkle while swinging her hips in purpose. Lucas started walking further into the gym, passing by the turned down girl. He sat down beside Farkle to lift some weights.

"The girl was really pissed off." Lucas told him with a smirk as he looked at his biceps moving with every lift.

"It's not apparent if she came here for working out or for other purposes."

"What kind of man are you, cousin? The girl was all over you and you don't even care?"

"What should I do, cousin? Should I show my interest towards every girl that's interested in me?" Farkle said sarcastically. Lucas smirked and continued lifting his weights, "Besides, she's not my type."

"Is it because she wasn't your type or something else?" Lucas said accusingly.

"What else could it be other than that, Luke?"

"I don't know…" Farkle stopped what he was doing and turned towards Lucas.

"What do you mean with I don't know?" Lucas put down his weights and looked at Farkle with yet another smirk. That guy smirks a lot.

"Hmmm… Maybe it's because you're still thinking about Miley until now." Farkle's expression hardened as he looked at the floor and Lucas smiled slightly instead of that smirk, "I'm not wrong, am I? You can't even think about another girl because you're still thinking about Miley."

"No. You're wrong, Lucas." Farkle said sternly. "Moving on from a relationship to another doesn't happen as fast for me as it happens for you… that's all." Lucas just smiled bigger as he took his weights again, "I act according to my feelings not my dick."

"I'm pretty happy with moving according to my dick, actually. It's pretty satisfying."

"I hope the satisfaction stays when Kayli comes back." Farkle said with a smirk as he went back to his work out. Kayli was a true believer in waiting until marriage to do the deed.

"Well that was a good reply for a comeback." Lucas said with a laugh.

" _Enjoy your meal." Topanga told Mr. and Mrs. Friar as the servant served their food._

" _Thank you, Topanga. We will." Cathy said and Topanga and Kate made their way back into the kitchen. They had a good view of the dining table and they could also hear everything. Joseph and Cathy both took a bite of their steaks and hummed. "That tastes really good… she must've used a different sauce."_

" _The meat is really good… and the rice as well." Joseph said as he took another bite._

" _I think they liked it…" Topanga whispered happily to Kate._

 _Cathy's phone rang as they were eating and Ella's, Kayli's mother, name appeared on the screen._

" _Ella is calling, she'll probably ask about Lucas… She's probably sad that Kayli and Lucas' vacation was cancelled. The kids have done everything for it, Joseph." She said before taking the phone to answer._

" _If he was a man, it wouldn't have been cancelled. So please, don't hint to me like that, okay? The guy turned out that way because of how spoiled we made him and how much we gave him" Joseph said before going back to his food. Cathy just huffed before answering the phone._

" _Ella… Hello."_

" _Cathy, how are you?"_

" _I'm okay, what about you?" Cathy said._

" _I'm okay, but Kayli isn't after what Lucas had told her yesterday." Kayli looked at Ella and Ella just nodded at her._

" _She has every right to not be okay, honey. They've been planning for it for a long time now. It was bad for it to be cancelled last minute. Joseph isn't usually stubborn but this time he really insisted on sending Lucas to our new hotel in Miami."_

" _Really? Joseph insisted?" Ella said grabbing Kayli's attention. She took the phone away from her ears and whispered in a barely audible voice, "Lucas was saying the truth."_

" _What?" Kayli whispered back in disbelief._

" _Tell her to not be sad, Ella… I promise I'll do everything I can to make Joseph change his mind." Joseph glared at her._

" _Okay, honey. I will… give my greetings to Joseph, please. I'm waiting for you in Brighton."_

" _Okay, honey… I'll make sure to visit." After that they both hung up._

" _Ah, Kayli, ah! Without listening to him or to me, look what you've done."_

" _Off Mother! What am I supposed to do now?" Kayli asked desperately._

" _Hurry and call the guy."_

Lucas made his way into his room and took off his t-shirt and threw it on his bed as well as his phone before going into his bathroom for a quick shower. At that moment, Kayli Called.

"Off, he's not answering, mom." She said with a huff.

"He probably busy or didn't hear it." Ella said calmly.

"I'm going to Miami." Kayli stated as she stood up.

"Kayli." Her mother called which stopped her, "You must've gone crazy. I will never let you go anywhere at that time of night." It was almost midnight in the UK. "Besides, if I'm wrong, then you going after him isn't a good idea." Kayli sighed.

"Okay, mom. Okay." She said sitting back down.

Lucas got out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a towel in his hand drying his hair with it. He heard his phone vibrating on his bed and went to check who it is.

"Yes, Farkle?"

"Are you ready? I'm on my way."

"Come on, I'm ready."

"Okay." Farkle said before hanging up.

Lucas put his phone back on the bed and then heard a knock on the door. He went to open the door to see Farkle so he didn't notice the red battery sign on his phone before the power went off.

Farkle looked at Lucas up and down before smiling, "Didn't you say that you were ready?"

"I will put on my clothes in a minute, don't worry." He closed the door and went towards the closet in his hotel room while Farkle made his way to the living room area and sat down on the couch. He noticed a magazine on the coffee table and took it in his hand. Miley was on the cover of the magazine which didn't surprise him as she's an actress. As he looked at her, his mind went back to their last date.

 ***four months earlier***

" **Miley… I love you so much." He said as he got down on one knee with the beautiful melody of the piano in the background. He took out a velvet box from his pockets and opened it to reveal a beautiful engagement ring with a single heart shaped diamond in the middle. "Will you-"**

" **Farkle…." Miley cut him off, "I'm not… ready for something like that." At that Farkle took a deep breath and looked around him as he closed the box and got up.**

" **Okay, I um… understand if it surprised you… But we don't have to get married right away. Engagement is the time when we become ready for marriage. Whenever you feel like you're ready-"**

" **Farkle, you don't understand." Miley shook her head. "I'm not thinking about anything serious between us. My priorities are my dreams and my job, Farkle. If that's the kind of relationship you want, then I'm sorry." Farkle looked away from her as he literally felt his heart breaking. Literally. He just turned away from her and left. Just like that.**

Remembering that night, made him feel the same ache in his heart once again. Lucas made his way into the living area with a pair of light washed jeans and a light green tiered button down that had white near the collar and blue underneath it. He noticed what Farkle was looking at and smiled sadly.

"I'm ready, let's go." He said cheerfully to not make Farkle feel like he saw what he was holding. Farkle took a deep breath and nodded before getting up. "Are you ready for some fun tonight, Cousin?"

"The only thing I'm ready for is having something to eat then heading to bed afterwards." Farkle said trying to get himself out of that memory.

"You know that's impossible, dude. You're with thee Lucas Friar." He patted his back and they made their way out.

"Look at us, Maya. This is awful." Riley said as she struggled with the zipper of her dress, in the small toilet of the hotel. They were getting ready to go to the club that Adam works in.

"What about us, darling? We're getting ready in a beautiful way." Maya told her from the toilet beside her as she put on her dress as well. Riley made her way out of the toilet and went towards the sinks and mirrors to start on her hair and makeup and Maya was out right after her. They'd both washed their hair right after getting out of the beach and since they both have pretty fine hair, both of their hair dried almost straight with a slight wave in it which made it look really good naturally.

They applied their makeup. Maya went for a bronzed look along with her signature intense smokey eye to make her bright blue eyes pop and a nude pink lip while Riley went with bronzed look as well with a simple winged liner and a slight smokey eye that wasn't as intense as Maya's for her eyes and a nude pink lipstick.

Because they didn't have much time, Maya went over her hair with her straightener that she'd taken out of her suitcase and Riley went over hers with a curling iron that she also took from her suitcase. They looked good and it didn't look like they got ready in a bathroom at all.

Riley was wearing a neon pink dress that reached her mid-thigh. It had two lines of sequins going all along the V-cut neckline of the dress and it formed a belt around her waist where it flowed slightly. She paired it with a pair of nude pumps that made her long legs look like they went on forever. Maya on the other hand had a baby blue dress on that had a v-cut neckline as well and reached her mid-thigh. Maya's dress was tight though so it didn't flow like Riley's. Both of their dresses gave them really good cleavage though due to the V-cut. She paired her dress with a pair of nude pumps as well to make her look longer.

When they were ready they made their way out after gathering their stuff. Lucas and Farkle were making their way out as well. Neither of them noticed the other once again which was a good thing. Riley and Maya made their way towards the reception counter.

"Good evening." Maya said once they reached the guy who instantly smiled upon seeing them. "We'll go out for a bit… Do you mind if we keep our backpacks with our suitcases?" Maya said in a very sweet tone.

"Of course I don't mind." He said with a smile and Maya and Riley handed him their bags wich he gave to another employee telling her to put them with the others.

"Thank you…. Um… Can you please call a taxi for us, please?" Maya asked in the same sweet tone and Riley had to hide her smirk. "I know that we're really bothering you but…"

"No, it's okay. You're not bothering me at all." He said hurriedly before taking the hotel's phone and calling a taxi for them.

"You have him wrapped around your finger, girl. He agrees to everything you're saying." Riley whispered to Maya as they gave their back to the guy while he was on the phone.

"Well, that's as far as my powers go…" Maya trailed off as a handsome guy passed by them, "That's the goal and that's what I'll get in the end." She said with a sigh, meaning the handsome guy.

"He'll hear you." Riley whispered with a laugh that Maya joined her in. They turned back to him with a smile on their faces.

"The taxi is ready… Let me give you my phone number, in case you need anything." Riley and Maya looked at each other with a smirk, "Here you go… just call me if you need anything. Most places aren't safe here at night." He handed Maya the paper that had his number with 'Josh' written under it.

"Aw… Thank you so much, Josh." Maya said sweetly and Riley looked between them back and forth with an amused look on her face.

"Well, have a good evening. We'll get going now, Josh." Riley said as she pulled Maya with her. "Should I leave the money here? I got scared when he said that most places aren't safe here…" Riley asked Maya as they walked towards the main entrance/exit.

"What if he said that on purpose? We can't trust anyone these days, girl. Take me as an example. I only trust you and myself…." As she said this, she opened her bag that had one of the across the body straps and took out a very small wallet that wasn't even the size of her hand. "Let's see who'll be able to take the money from here… give me your money as well." She hanged it around her neck like a necklace as Riley took her money out of her white bag. Maya put Riley's money inside as well before tucking the tiny wallet between her boobs so that it doesn't ruin her look.

Both Riley and Maya, and Lucas and Farkle spent their nights differently. Riley and Maya hanged out in the more local areas of Miami while Lucas and Farkle drove around the city. Riley and Maya had chicken burger sandwiches for dinner at a very simple Local Café while Lucas and Farkle had a fancy meal for dinner at a fancy five stars Italian restaurant. Something that was similar was the amount of laughter they shared together. Both of them spent their evening talking and hanging around their best friends, as Farkle was Lucas' best friend not only his cousin.

"Riley… should we get some cotton candy?" Maya said as she spotted a cotton candy machine.

"You just ate, Maya…" Riley said.

"We'll be dancing all night, Riles. We'll burn calories." Riley looked at her when she said dance, "Okay, You don't dance, I will." When they reached the machine, Maya looked around her before taking the wallet from between her boobs and giving riley some money to get the cotton candy.

"Ohhhh… what a coincidence… how are you?" A strange lady asked Maya as she took her in her arms. Maya stood confused because she was sure that she didn't know that lady. What she didn't feel was the lady cutting the strap of Maya's Necklace-wallet and taking it in her hands. "We haven't seen each other in a really long time." The lady said as she pulled away from Maya.

"Who are you? I don't know you." Maya said with her eyebrows frowned.

"I'm your aunt Matilde, you don't remember me?"

"No, I don't remember you." The lady looked at her some more.

"Oh… I'm sorry. When I looked at you now, I realized that I've mistaken you for someone else… sorry." The lady said with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay, no problem." As she said that, the lady hurriedly left with Maya's mini wallet with her.

"Who was that?" Riley asked as she handed Maya her cotton candy.

"I don't know, she thought I was someone else. Thank you…" Maya said before she got busy her cotton candy. They both made their way to Adam's club on foot because it was near where they were. Once they reached the bar, Maya waved at Adam.

"Hey, how are you?" He shouted over the music.

"I'm good, what about you?" Maya shouted back as she leaned on the bar counter so that they could here each other better.

"I'm good too." He smiled at them before he started preparing their drinks. He smiled at Maya as he poured a red drink for them. "That's on me."

"Thank you." Maya said and he nodded before he left them to continue his work. She took a sip while moving her body to the music.

"What's that?" Riley asked Maya.

"I don't know exactly, but it tastes delicious…. I think it has strawberries in it." At that Riley took a sip while Maya took her last sip, "This is delicious… can I have another one, please?" Maya asked Adam who nodded with a smile while pouring her another one. "You didn't drink anything, Riles."

"You know I'm not used to alcohol."

"You'll get used to it… besides, this is not strong. Come on drink it." Riley nodded and took another small sip. 'Sun is up' by Inna started playing and Maya excitedly got out of her seat.

"Come on, Riley. Let's dance, please." Riley just shook her head, "come on, please. This is a good song."

"No, you go." Maya huffed before taking a big sip from her drink and going to the dance floor and blending in. Riley laughed at her friend stumbling before drinking half of her glass in one gulp.

Lucas and Farkle decided to go to the Blue Angels club that they've heard about at the hotel. They made their way in.

"Cousin, I'll go to the bathroom." Farkle said in Lucas' ears.

"Alright… and I'll get myself a drink."

"I'll meet you at the bar then." Lucas' nodded before he headed towards the bar and sitting down.

"Hello." Lucas told the bartender and then gave him his order. Somehow, Riley heard his voice even over the music so she looked towards him. Upon seeing him sitting five seats away from her, she hurriedly took one of the menus and hid behind it. What she didn't know was that Lucas had already seen her while she was getting the menu and he smirked when he saw her hiding. He decided to have his drink first before doing anything, to make her hide some more.

"Where did he come from... Off!" Riley said to herself with a huff. She sneaked a glance at him and saw him having a sip from his drink while talking to the bartender. She then looked at Maya and saw her in a guy's arms dancing, more like grinding, with him. Riley looked back at Lucas and found him laughing at something Adam said to him. If she didn't hate him, she would've thought that he looked handsome while smiling. But she hated him so she didn't think that. At all.

"Riley… what are you doing?" Maya asked her in a drunk voice as she stood beside her leaning on the counter. She pointed at her drink which Riley gave to her. She drank all what was left.

"Hey, Maya… don't stay near that guy, okay?"

"Don't start acting like a mother, Riley. We're just having fun, Peaches…. Can I have another one, Adam?" Maya said before she started dancing against Riley.

"Okay, okay." Adam gave Maya a drink which she took with her to the dance floor. Riley sneaked another glance at Lucas and he was still there with a smirk on his face, sipping on his drink. He could feel Riley's eyes on him so that's why he was smirking. "Isn't there another place where he could sit? He's not moving."

Riley looked at him again but this time, he wasn't there. She took down the Menu away from her face and leaned up in her seat to look for him.

"Where did he go?" She wondered out loud as she looked around. While she was looking around, a guy stood behind her and leaned towards her ears with a smirk.

"Are you looking for me?" When the words left his mouth, Riley gasped and went flying back from surprise. Luckily, he caught her in his arms once more and was met with her chocolate brown eyes once more and she was met with his green ones. If they didn't hate each other, they would've thought that the other had really beautiful eyes and they would've got lost in them. If they didn't hate each other. But they did hate each other.

Riley pushed herself out of Lucas' arms with a frown on her face as she stood in front of him. Even in her heels, he was still taller than her and she still had to tilt her head up to look at him. Which surprised her as she was quite tall.

"What are you doing? You startled me." He just smirked as he looked at her. He was about to reply when they heard Maya's voice screaming. Riley's head turned towards the voice in panic.

"I DON'T WANT TO! LET GO OF ME, YOU JERK! LET GO!" Maya screamed as she tried to push the guy who was trying to kiss all over her neck away from her. "I SAID LET GO OF ME!" Riley ran towards her and Lucas just stood in his place by the bar.

"LET GO OF MY FRIEND!" Riley yelled at him as she tried to pull him away from Maya. He just pushed her away and she stumbled back. When he saw her stumbling, something made Lucas run towards her hurriedly. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET GO OF HER!" Riley tried to pull him away from Maya once more.

"Go away." The guy pushed her away once more and this time, she stumbled into a table.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Lucas' asked the guy, yelling over the music. Riley took an empty bottle that she found on the table she stumbled on and crashed it on top of the guy's head. She gasped and her hands went to her mouth as the guy stumbled back. Maya ran away immediately. "Hey, are you okay?" Lucas asked Riley and she nodded to answer his question.

Once the guy looked back to see who hit him, he saw Lucas standing there so he thought that he is who hit him. He looked at him angrily as he made his way towards him. Lucas had a shocked look on his face from Riley's actions.

"Who the hell are you, dude?!" They guy asked as he shoved Lucas back. Lucas took a few deep breaths as he looked at the guy before he lost it and punched him, sending him to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked Lucas worriedly.

"I'm okay." She then looked at the guy and kneeled down to his level on the floor. She put her ears to his chest to see if he was alive or not.

"You probably killed the guy." Riley said starting to panic even more.

"Calm down, Calm down." Lucas said as he took more deep breaths. Riley put her ears back but to his mouth to see if he's breathing.

"He's not breathing, I swear he's not breathing!" She looked back at the guy who suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her. "OH MY GOD!" Riley said as she hurriedly got up and stood beside Lucas.

"Run, run as fast as you can." Lucas said as she followed his words and started running with him following her. The guy got up from the floor.

"I'll kill you!" He said after Lucas before he went after him.

Because of her pumps, she stumbled on one of the stairs and twisted her ankle slightly. Lucas hurriedly took her hand in his and dragged her the rest of their run out. Riley looked at him confused. Right when they got of the club, camera flashing was all they saw.

"Shit. That's what I needed." Lucas whispered as Riley tried to hide her face as much as she can. "Don't take pictures, dude. Don't take pictures." He pushed them away as he pulled Riley with him until he found a taxi parked. Riley looked back briefly and saw the guy making his way out of the club.

"AHHH! HE'S COMING!" She screamed and Lucas pushed her into the taxi gently but hurriedly before getting in and closing the door.

"Drive off, Hurry." Lucas told the driver who just drove off. Five minutes into the ride, Riley realized that Lucas was still holding her hand so she pulled her hand away. They both pulled out their phones to call their friends. Lucas, who has charged his phone in Farkle's car, called Farkle who didn't answer while Riley called Maya who didn't answer as well. They both sighed.

"Where are you going?" The taxi driver asked them as he looked at them through the rearview mirror.

"Where are you staying?" Lucas asked Riley. Riley looked at him as she thought about it for a minute.

"Um… Actually…." She trailed off as she looked at her lap, "Honestly, I don't have a place to stay in."

"How so?" Lucas asked.

"When we went to the hotel we were supposed to work at, it was closed. So me and my friend have nowhere to stay." She explained, "So thanks to you, if I didn't get fired from my job in LA, none of this would've happened to me."

"Oh, so I'm responsible for everything that just happened, right?"

"Absolutely."

"You're definitely not normal!" Lucas exclaimed, "Crazy."

"And you? As if you're 100% normal." She retorted back, "Jerk."

"If you please stop arguing and tell me where you're going." The driver said annoyed.

"Aquamarine Hotel." They both said and immediately looked at each other. "Unbelievable!" They both exclaimed.

"But this is too much! Are you following me or what? Are you a part of some sort of secret agency? Or am I on Punk'd? If I am then this is far from funny. It's getting quite annoying actually." Lucas exclaimed in one breath and Riley just looked at him in disbelief.

"Why would I follow you? You're the one who appears in front of me everywhere I go! Actually, you're the one following me." Riley said as she crossed her arms and looked at the road ahead of her.

"What would I get from following you? Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell are _you?"_ Riley asked back emphasizing the 'You' and Lucas just shook his head as he looked out of the window, "Cocky, Self-centered, and arrogant."

"Can you stop, please? I'll get off here." Riley told the driver.

"Yeah, stop. Let her get out of this car."

"Yeah, we're in a taxi… why should I get off? You get off." She said annoyed as she looked at Lucas who looked at her in disbelief then looked at the driver.

"Honestly, don't you think she's crazy? At first she said that she'll get off and then she goes like 'you get off'" Lucas exclaimed in annoyance.

"Don't ask me… I've been married for ten years and I still can't figure out my wife." The driver said and Lucas just huffed.

Farkle and Maya had been searching for their friends for ten minutes before they made their way to the bar. Farkle took out his phone from his pocket and Maya took hers from her bag before they called them.

"Where are you?" That was the first thing Farkle and Maya said when Riley and Lucas answered the phone.

"I had to leave… I'm heading to the hotel." Lucas said.

"Maya… where did you disappear? Are you okay?" Riley asked worriedly.

"I'm okay… where are you? You got me worried, Riles."

"I took a taxi and I'm on my way to the hotel. You too take a taxi and come to the hotel immediately." Riley said and Maya agreed before they hanged up. Lucas hanged up with Farkle as well after telling him to meet him at the hotel as well.

Both Farkle and Maya made their way out of the club and Farkle got into his car as Maya got into a taxi. Right when she got in, she felt around her neck and didn't find the wallet.

"It's not here… where is it?" she look for it in her bag before she remembered the incident with the strange lady. "Shit! I knew there was something fishy about this lady."

"Will you close the door, please?" the driver said.

"No… Look, I dropped my wallet… actually it was stolen so I don't have any money on me. If you can just drive me to the hotel and I promise I'll pay you when we arrive." She begged.

"It's the same lie every time. I'm sorry but get out of my taxi." Maya got out of the car defeated and leaned on the wall thinking about what she should do. She remembered Josh's number so she called him.

"Josh… Hey, it's Maya. I'm so sorry to be bothering you once-"

"Nah, it's okay. Is everything okay with you?"

"My money got stolen."

"Where are you?" Josh asked concerned.

"The blue angels club."

"I'll be right there." He said and hanged up. "I'll go out for a bit." He told another receptionist who nodded.

Maya waited for him and in the matter of ten minutes, he was there. She got into his car and after exchanging a few words, he drove off.

The alcohol was finally kicking in for Riley and she was feeling super nauseous and sleepy. She started fanning herself as she felt the contents of her stomach wanting to come out but she held it in and closed her eyes. Lucas looked at her briefly before shaking his heading and turning his head back towards the window.

She fell asleep and Lucas suddenly felt a weight drop on his left shoulder. He looked to his left and saw Riley sleeping with her head leaned on his shoulder. He thought about jerking away from her but when he looked at her some more and saw how peaceful she looked, he leaned his shoulder down a little bit so that she could lean on it more comfortably. She adjusted her head on his shoulder and when she did so, his nose and mouth were right by her hair.

Lucas inhaled the smell of berries that was coming from her hair and smiled at how innocent she looked. He started leaning down a little bit to look at her some more when suddenly the car jerked up causing Riley to pump her head on Lucas' shoulder and wake up.

"What happened?" She asked sleepily.

"Nothing, you just fell asleep." Lucas said with a warm smile on his face.

"And you took the opportunity to wander, right?" She accused as she pulled the skirt of her dress down, because it had risen up with the jerk of the car.

"What? I'm not a pervert!" At that Riley just looked at him before looking away, "Look at the situation you've put me in… god!" Lucas was definitely embarrassed. They arrived at the hotel and Lucas reached towards his wallet when Riley stopped him.

"I'll pay… I don't need anything from you." Lucas just looked at her as she pulled out her wallet.

"Okay… I won't say refuse." She opened her wallet and found it empty so she sighed and he looked at her once again.

"Shit… I gave all my money to Maya." She said mostly to herself and Lucas huffed before taking his wallet out and paying for the taxi.

"Keep the change." He told the driver and they both got out of the car.

"I'll pay you back once my friend arrives…" Lucas turned towards her just as she stumbled and almost fell but he caught her.

"Are you okay? You look really pale." He asked genuinely concerned and Riley gave a laugh because she saw that he had three heads.

"No… I'm not okay…" And with that she started falling as she fainted but Lucas' arms around her waist stopped her from falling.

"That's just what I need…" Lucas said as he supported her with one arm, "Hey, wake up, are you okay?" he tried to wake her and failed. "I don't even know her name." With that, he scoped her up into his arms bridal style and went inside the hotel and up towards his room.

When they got in, Lucas kicked the door closed with his foot and headed towards the bedroom so that she could lay down in his bed. She started stirring in his arms though so he sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?" he felt like he's said these words a thousand times in the past hour and half. Riley shook her head and looked like she's about to throw up. "Don't you dare… Swallow it, swallow-" Riley threw up on his shoulder and luckily it was just the drink she had. He immediately put her on the ground and started unbuttoning his shirt off. "What did you do?"

"I'm so sorry!" Riley said as she ran off to the bathroom she got in and closed the door after herself. She splashed her face with some water and rinsed her mouth. "What a disaster, Riley. Just great." She told herself then a knock was on the room's door. "Shit!"

Lucas took off his shirt in disgust and threw it to the side of the room then headed towards the door, shirtless. He opened it and Farkle just looked at him confused. Riley opened the bathroom door to see who it was and was shocked at who she saw.

Her bakery guy was standing right there and she'd never been thankful for him not noticing her presence until now.

But what did he have to do with Lucas?

"Shit!"

* * *

 **Phew... such a long chapter.**

 **I was personally annoyed with how long it was getting but I wanted it to end with you guys knowing who the bakery guy was. I really hope that it didn't bore you because I personally got bored with it while writing it. That's why I've taken so long to update. I got bored while writing it twice lol.**

 **Be honest with me and tell me if it did bore you or if you'd rather have these super long chapters. This was 10K words.**

 **Anyways, what do you think will happen next? that's my question for this chapter because I really like hearing what you guys think will happen.**

 **Also, do you have any ideas on who the narrator is? or still no clue?**

 **Anyways, I hope that you've enjoyed it. Be sure to leave me a review bc they make me happy.**

 **Love always,**

 **Haneenxx**


	5. Chapter 5: He Promised?

**Hello, Beautiful people on the internet!**

 **I'm so sorry for my lack of updates in the past few days, but I've been busy. Actually, I was once a big Korean Drama fan and about a month ago, I was introduced to it again. So for the past few days, I've been watching several Dramas. I literally finished 3 Dramas within a week.**

 **Also, I had a small accident and I couldn't move my back or neck because of it. It's still quite hard for me to even sit up without my neck aching. It's not major though, I just slipped and hit my head pretty hard onto the Ceramic floor of my house. It just hurts so much.**

 **Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't know how it's gonna be like yet so… Let's just head into the chapter.**

 **Enjoy xx**

* * *

Do you know that fantasy that almost every girl has when she likes a guy? Where they're at the beach and he's playing guitar for her or they're laying on the sand while looking at the stars?

That's what it felt like to Riley… She looked at Farkle dreamily as he played the guitar for her. She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head on them while still looking to her side at Farkle. They had a small fire lit in front of them to keep them a bit warmer but to Riley it just made the mood even more romantic. Farkle stared at Riley, not even looking at his fingers playing the guitar even once.

He soon finished playing and moved closer to Riley. She laid head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her while his other hand took hold of her hand.

"Riley…" He trailed off and Riley waited for him to continue then ended up lifting her head off his shoulder when he stayed silent. She looked at him and he started speaking again in a soft tone, "I've been in love with you ever since the very first time I saw you…"

"Me too…" Riley said softly as a smile took place on her face. Farkle smiled back before leaning towards her slowly as she closed her eyes. Her lips touched his and she immediately started kissing back. It felt weird though because something was tickling her nose then all of a sudden she felt something licking her face… once, twice, thrice.

"What the hell…?" Riley exclaimed as she opened her eyes to see a dog in her face. "It was just a dream… again!" She exclaimed, defeated. "I really wish that what happened last night was a dream as well… It was a disaster…" She said as she recalled the final events of last night once again.

 **FLASHBACK:**

 _ **Oh god! I can't let him see me here…. He'll totally misunderstand it! That guy is shirtless of god's sake! I have to escape from here.**_

 **Riley thought to herself as she made her way to the Balcony.**

 **Thankfully, they were in the ground floor so all she had to do was to climb the fence. Once she did, she jumped down into the grass and fell to the ground, hurting her ankle in the process because of her high heels.**

 **She screamed in pain but quickly shut herself up as she tried to stand up. She limped her way towards the beach deciding that she'll use one of the beach chairs as a bed for the night.**

Upon remembering it, she was reminded of the pain in her ankle and she winced in pain when she tried to massage it. "That's just what I needed. I wonder what else is going to happen to me. The state we're in is pathetic… No it won't work out like this."

Beside her a body groaned and she looked to her side, relieved to see that it's Maya who's sleeping.

"Offf Riley! What happened in the early morning? Why are you talking to yourself again?" Maya said In an annoyed voice with her eyes closed still.

"What happened?!" Riley exclaimed and Maya sat up with a huff. "What else could possibly happen to us, Maya? We're jobless and we don't even have a dollar with us. We spent the night sleeping on beach chairs, for god's sake! I won't be able to spend another day like this! I'll call my mother and tell her everything so that she could send us money for the way back. This was a mistake from the beginning"

"Don't say that, Pumpkin! We'll fix everything today, I promise!" Riley looked at her and Maya already knew that she just needs a little extra reassuring. "Josh must've talked to the manager about us by now. We'll get jobs and a place to stay in, so don't worry. Yes, I agree with you… everything has been going so bad ever since we arrived here, but they'll be better from now on. Trust me… I promise you that It'll be fine."

"Okay…" Riley said with a sigh and Maya jumped up from her chair and hugged her. "Just one day, though. If everything is still not going well by tomorrow morning, I'm leaving!"

"Okay, okay…. Let's go fix ourselves then go see Josh, shall we?" Riley nodded and they both got up, with more struggling on Riley's part because of her ankle. They took their bags and made their way inside, with a limping Riley. As they turned towards the staircase that lead to the pool area, Farkle had reached the chairs they were sleeping on, in his morning run. He took off his shirt and kept it on Riley's chair before going into the water for a swim.

After fixing their hair and makeup, Riley and Maya made their way towards the reception desk. Upon seeing them, Josh smiled and waved them over excitedly.

"There's probably good news, pumpkin! Look how excited he is!" Maya said excitedly and Riley just grinned. They made their way to him.

"I was just about to call you, girls." He said in a super excited tone causing the girl to smile even bigger in hope. "I have some good news for you! I talked with our employment manager about you and all you have to do is fill those quickly." He handed them to papers where they had to fill their information in and two pens. "After that, she's ready to meet you."

"Those are great news, not just good ones!" Riley said.

"Josh, thank you so much. I don't know what we would've done if it wasn't for you!" Maya said with a small smile. Josh just smiled back and looked the other way in shyness. The girls started filling in the application with a smirk on Riley's face, knowing that something will happen between her peaches and Josh. They kept sneaking glances at each other.

In another part of the U.S., Joseph and Cathy Friar were having breakfast. Joseph was reading the newspaper as Cathy thought of way to bring up Lucas' subject.

"Uh… joseph?" She said in a tired tone.

"Yes, honey?" He said as he looked at her briefly before turning to the newspaper again.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night, Joseph."

"Oh, why is that? Is everything okay?"

"Why could it be, Joseph? I stayed up thinking about my baby boy, Lucas." Knowing where this conversation was headed, Joseph turned back to the newspaper and his whole facial expression hardened.

"Cathy, Let's not talk about the same subject over and over again. My decision is final, I won't change it." He said sternly before taking a sip of his morning tea.

"Please, Joseph! You're not only punishing Lucas with your decision, but you're punishing Kayli as well. They both planned this trip and you cancelled it for both of them. If you were just doing this to Lucas, I wouldn't have bothered you this much since yes, the boy needs this. But Kayli doesn't deserve this at all. The poor girl got really sad upon hearing that the trip she's been waiting for is cancelled. She'll be our daughter in law in the future as well."

"You know how much I love Kayli, don't you? I basically brought her up as a father figure. I don't want to make her sad but it's time for Lucas to learn a lesson, Cathy. He needs to take responsibility and be a real man… This is for Kayli as well, how will he look after her if he's not manly enough, huh? So please, I don't want to hear anything about this subject anymore."

"Ah, Joseph! Your stubbornness is back in full action. I swear I will not talk to you again, ever."

"You won't talk to me? Do you promise?" He held his pinky finger towards her and she sighed in annoyance while he laughed. "Anger really suits my lovely wife. Makes her look even prettier." Cathy tried to fight back a smile at that.

"Joseph, Let me make a phone call to Lucas and tell him to come back, okay?" She said hopefully and the smile was wiped of Joseph's face.

"No. The further he is from here , the better."

"Really? Well then don't expect me to be _close_ to you at the time Lucas is away, Joseph." She said emphasizing the 'Close' so that he could get the real meaning aka close in bed.

"Off, Cathy." Joseph huffed as he looked at her. Cathy wasn't that old and neither was Joseph so they both still look good and young, despite being forty-one (Cathy) and forty-five (Joseph), So it was hard to resist her. "Fine. But this is the last time. I don't want to hear any news concerning Lucas again, is that understood?"

"Yes, yes. I already talked to him before he left and he promised that there won't be any more problems. He won't do anything to upset you again, he promised." Cathy said and Joseph nodded as he took another newspaper from the bunch they got him this morning. As he opened the front page, he felt anger rushing through his blood.

"Ah, He PROMISED!" Joseph exclaimed as he pointed at the picture of Lucas getting out of a club with yet another girl who had her hand in his and was hiding her face. "Your son promised that he wouldn't do anything that would upset me, huh? Here, take a look at what he did with that promise." He handed her the newspaper and she looked at it in surprise

"What happened?"

"Just read, read." He said as he got up from the table and made his way to their room.

"Lucas Friar in Miami, Florida this time. The upper class' player, who attacks reporters, was coming out of the 'Blue Angels' night club in Miami, Florida while holding a girl's hand. He once again attacked the reporters who were trying to take pictures with shoving them aside." After finishing the article, she threw the newspaper to her side. "Off, Lucas! Are you trying to kill me, son?" She took her phone and speed dialed him.

Lucas heard his phone ringing but just preferred to ignore it and continue sleeping. When it didn't stop ringing though, he grabbed it and answered without opening his eyes or seeing the caller id.

"Hello…" he said in a grumpy voice.

"Good job, Son! Good job!" Cathy said sarcastically as she made her way into the living room.

"What happened in the early morning, mother?" Lucas said as he flipped on his back and sat up.

"Couldn't you just stay calm for one single day, Lucas?"

"Offfff… is it another article?" He got out of bed and retrieved his laptop. He took it and sat down on a chair in his opened balcony. He wondered why it was open as he didn't notice it being open when he came into the room last night with Riley. He went to the news site and there was his picture with Riley.

"It's as if I haven't told you to be careful. But no, you did the opposite and caused another problem. I had just convinced your father about allowing you to go to your trip to France and he sees this. It took me two days to convince him but now it's officially official that you're staying in Miami. It's not only your father's punishment this time, but mine as well."

"Don't say that, Mum…. Trust me I didn't have anything to do with it this time. A problem happened at that club and I got in the middle of it, what was I supposed to do?" Lucas tried to reason.

"That only happens to you, Lucas. You get in the middle of all problems, don't you? Okay fine. I understand that, but does that mean that you show up holding a girl's hand? What does that mean? What should Kayli do? Do you think these actions are suitable for you and your family?"

"Mum, it's not what it looks like. I have nothing to do with that girl."

"Tell that to Kayli, Lucas. Who knows how the girl is gonna feel upon seeing this? Look Lucas, I've been on your side till this day, but if you lose Kayli for this you'll find me against you. So, do everything possible to make it up to her."

"Okay, Mother. Okay." He said in defeat before hanging up. "UGGGGGGGGGHHH!" He shouted in frustration when he was back into his room and threw his gold iPhone 6s onto the bed.

"Here you go, we filled everything needed." Riley said as they both handed Josh their applications. Josh looked at the applications before smiling at them.

"Alright, we may go meet her now." The girls smiled at each other as they followed Josh.

Looks like things are about to look up for Riley… Or will they get worse?

* * *

 **Alright… I'm Sorry for the boring, short chapter, but it really hurts for me to sit up long especially because I'm not resting my neck on anything. This is all I can write for now. I could've continued this tomorrow and added about 2K words more but I want to give you something tonight (It's night where I live).**

 **Next chapter though, there'll be a few funny scenes and some Rucas and Riarkle (Just a little of Riarkle though, barely anything)**

 **Question; what do you think will happen next? What do you think will be Lucas' explanation when he calls Kayli?**

 **Also, If you're into Korean Dramas and you know any good ones, Please leave them in the reviews. If you want any good ones, I suggest those;**

 **-Descendants of the sun. (Which is about a doctor and a soldier who fall in love)**

 **-I remember you "aka Hello, Monster!" (Which is mainly about crimes and stuff with a little bit of Romance. Such a great one)**

 **-Oh my ghostess! (A ghost who possess girls until she possess a girl who can actually see ghosts and helps her)**

 **I do recommend giving them a try if you want to try K-dramas.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneen xx.**


	6. Chapter 6: Did I kill her?

"Poor woman… she can't even have one peaceful day." The Friar's servant said as she made her way into the kitchen with the empty plates of their breakfast on a tray. She'd just heard Cathy talking on the phone with Lucas about his new scandal of the day.

"What are you saying? What happened?" Katy asked the servant worriedly while Topanga looked at them while still chopping up some vegetables.

"What shall I say, Madam?" the servant asked sadly as she stood across from her on the kitchen isle. "Mr. Friar's son is in the newspapers again. He had a fight and now it's Miami's new topic of interest. Not just fighting, but there was also a picture of him holding a girl's hand while going out of the club and he shoved a few reporters."

"Off…. Mrs. Cathy must've gotten super upset." Katy said sadly.

"Can she do anything besides that? I'm not even talking about Mr. Friar. He must be furious. I gave him the newspapers with my own hands…. But how could I know?"

"Katy…. Riley is in Miami." Topanga spoke for the first time in a whisper to Katy. She sounded worried. "I get worried every time I hear anything about Miami. Should I have not let her go?"

"Don't be like that, Topanga. Riley is a really mature, smart girl. She went there to work and not play around." Katy said as she helped her with peeling potatoes skin.

"You're right…. My baby girl has never made me upset before. I trust her fully, but the society around her isn't good. It's her surroundings that I don't trust." Then she lowered her voice back to a whisper and said, "I'm really afraid of her getting attached to someone who's bad for her."

"Don't think about that. You'll see, Riley will have a really beautiful family." Katy said as she moved now to remove the inside of the peppers.

"I hope so, Katy." Topanga said with a smile. "We should hurry up." And with that she started stuffing peppers because Cathy had asked for stuffed peppers for lunch.

* * *

"That's the place. Good luck girls!" Josh said with a smile as he pointed to the manager's office.

"Thank you." Riley said with a smile and then headed towards the office with Maya as Josh left. They were in a long hallway that had the offices in a somewhat zig-zag like way. They skipped the first office.

"Good morning, Mr. Farkle." The hotel's general manager greeted as he saw Farkle. That was the first office.

"Good Morning." Farkle said with a polite smile.

"Tonight will have a summer's welcome party. Can we talk about the details? Are you free?"

"Of course, we can. Let's go to my office, shall we?" Farkle said and the manager nodded and they made their way towards Farkle's office.

"You can start immediately if our conditions suit you." The employees' manager said as she looked at Riley and Maya.

"They're suitable for us." Riley and Maya said at the same time with an excited nod of their heads and a big smile.

"There's a month of trial, of course. If we're satisfied with your work after that, then you'll officially be employed here."

"We're pretty sure that you'll be satisfied." Riley said with a smile and Maya nodded.

"As of right now, we need employees for the pool's bar and the beach's bar. If that's okay, you start working in the pool's bar," She said as she looked at Riley, "And you in the Beach's bar." Then she looked at Maya. "Is that okay?"

"Yes, as you like." Maya said.

"Yeah." Riley said as well with a nod.

"Welcome between the Aquamarine staff, girls." She said with a smile.

"Thank you!" Riley and Maya said.

"Emma…." She called and a tall young lady came in. "Those ladies will work with us from now on. Will you please help them settle in and start working?"

"Yes, of course."

"Show them where they'll be staying first then give them a tour around the hotel. After that, they'll start their work."

"Okay, Miss Sierra. Welcome to The Aquamarine staff!"

"Thank you!" Riley and Maya said with big smiles. They couldn't stop smiling really.

They followed Emma out of the office and towards the Elevators and headed back to the ground floor where Lucas was waiting for the other elevator. Neither noticed the other, thankfully.

"You've planned everything for the party in a wonderful way." Farkle said from his place behind his desk.

"I'm glad that you like it, Mr. Farkle. I think the rehearsal will start before the opening ceremony. We're thinking about having the opening ceremony in the roof bar on the beach. An engineer will be here today to tell us his ideas concerning any improvements and such things. Do you want to join that meeting?"

"Of course, that'll be good." Farkle answered with a nod.

"I'll notify you about the meeting then." The manager said as he got up from his chair and headed towards the door as Lucas came in. "Good morning, Mr. Lucas." He said as he passed him.

"Good morning." Lucas said in a somewhat grumpy tone. He sat down on the chair that the manager had just gotten up from. Farkle smirked at his choice of clothing which screamed 'I'm on holiday'. He was wearing a pair of navy blue swim trunks and a white tank top/muscle tee that had splatters of different colors on it and a pair of black flip flops.

"Good morning, Cousin." Farkle said and Lucas huffed before greeting him back. "I see you're upset."

"Have you seen today's newspapers?"

"Again?" Farkle said with a small sarcastic laugh. He took his iPad and went to the news site. Lucas' news and pictures were the first to come up. "That's bad." He said as he flipped through the pictures of him and Riley. "Uncle Joseph won't certainly take a step back after this."

"It would've been fine if it was just my father. My mother as well started blaming me after those pictures."

"You're talking about this one, right?" He showed him a picture where he was dragging Riley while she was looking back searching for the guy so they only got her back in that one with her hand tightly in his. He sighed as he looked at it. "That's normal. Women unite, Cousin. She must've thought about Kayli."

"Exactly. She told me that if I broke up with Kayli this time, then she'll be against me on Kayli's side."

"That's a harsh threat."

"I'll be screwed if I lose my mother's support. Kayli will go crazy upon hearing about this. She thinks I'm lying to her about France and she's mad at me. Now there're those accidents to top everything off." Lucas said.

"Well, I told you to stop thinking with your dick." Farkle said with a smirk and Lucas glared at him.

"You know what happened Farkle and you know that I hate this girl."

"Relax, I'm just kidding." Farkle laughed. "According to what you did tell me, you had nothing to do with what happened last night. Plus, you're saying that you have nothing to do with that girl…. That is if you've really told me the truth."

"Don't you believe me?!" Lucas exclaimed. "How will Kayli believe me after seeing the pictures?"

"Do you know what this accident reminded me of?" Farkle said with a smile which made Lucas smile as well.

"Of what?"

"The lying shepherd."

"Oh yeah? Make fun of me, cousin. Make fun of me."

"Are you made at me?" Farkle laughed.

"How can I not, man? Look at the situation I'm in right now. All of this is thanks to that stupid girl. Look at the problems she's caused me" Lucas said, the frown once more taking place on his face.

"You're so nervous, cousin. Tell you what…. Let's go down to the spa and get massages. There's a party here tonight anyways, so you'll get your energy back."

"A party?" He said with a smirk and Farkle nodded. "That fixed my mood a little bit." They both laughed.

"You'll never be a real man, Cousin." Farkle said with a laugh to show him that he's kidding and got out of his seat while Lucas laughed and followed suit. "Let's go." With that, they made their way out of the office.

"Okay, so that's where you'll be staying…" Emma said as she pointed at the different items that were in the very small room. It was just like the college's dorm rooms, small. It had two singular beds with a night stand in between, a small wardrobe and a washer beside it. On the wall opposite to the door, there were two hangers with two white polo shirts.

Riley made her way towards it and touched it. The fabric was really good quality. It was completely white with the Hotel's logo on the left breast area in aqua blue color. Under the shirt, an aqua blue skirt was hanged. Emma told them that she'll leave them so that they could get ready and into their uniforms before she'd show them around. She said that she'll be back to get them in forty minutes.

They both had quick showers and decided to not wash their hair to spare time, for now. They put on the half sleeved polo shirts and the skirts that reached their mid thighs. Along with their uniforms, they slipped on a pair of white converse. Riley pulled her hair up into a high pony tail then pulled out the baby hairs while Maya pulled hers into a messy side braid, with her side bangs framing her face. They kept their makeup natural, making sure to apply tinted a foundation with SPF in it to protect their skin. They applied foundation, concealer, powder, blush, bronzer and highlighter, eyebrow powder to fill them in, eyeliner in their waterlines, mascara and a nude pink lipstick to finish it off. Despite the amount of products they used, their faces didn't look cacky

Forty minutes later, Emma knocked on their door and they headed after her. Josh smiled at Maya as he saw her and she discreetly waved at him. Emma showed them everywhere around the hotel then made their way outside so that she could show them their bars.

"Are we really gonna work here? I still can't believe until now that we got the job. This is the first time that our luck wasn't a complete misery ever since we came here." Riley said to Maya as they followed Emma.

"But I wish we worked at the same place." Maya complained.

"We should thank god for even getting this job, Maya. We shouldn't complain." Riley pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Good morning, Mr. Malik. These two girls are Riley and Maya and they'll be joining you from today on the beach bar and pool bar." Emma told a man who was wearing the same uniform as them but with shorts. He looked like he was in his early thirties. "Girls this is Mr. Malik. He's the chief here as well as your boss while you're out here, Riley."

"Good morning, girls. Welcome to our staff." Mr. Malik said as he shook their hands and both girls smiled at him politely while thanking him.

"Riley will be working here from today, Mr. Malik. You'll help her, right?" Emma asked.

"Yes, of course." Mr. Malik said.

"Alright then. I'll take Maya to the beach bar now." Emma said and Riley nodded before hugging Maya. They both wished each good luck and with that, Maya and Emma left Riley with Mr. Malik.

"They must've already told you about this when they gave you the job but our customers are chosen carefully. We don't just allow anyone here. So you must be super careful and precise when serving their orders and taking them." Mr. Malik said in a tone that meant business.

"Sure thing, don't worry." Riley said with a smile.

"It's very important to keep your distance from our customers. Also, all problems should be solved with politeness and respect."

"Of course." Riley nodded and with that Mr. Malik finally gave her a smile and proceeded to point at things while explaining them to her and explaining what she should and shouldn't do around the pool area. Then he introduced her to the pool bar's staff before she took her first order.

"Good luck with serving your first order." He told her and she thanked him with a smile. Mr. Malik wouldn't say this out loud, but he really liked that the smile never left her face. Those who work with a smile on their face are the most likable to customers.

As she went to serve her first order, which was to one of the tent like lounging areas, Lucas and Farkle made their way to the pool chairs and took off their tank tops. Lucas jumped into the pool while Farkle just laid down on the pool chair as he didn't feel like swimming yet. When Mr. Malik spotted Farkle calling for a waitress, he sent Riley to him. She made her way to him with the same smile on her face.

"What can I get you, sir?" She said politely before finally seeing who he it was. Insert romantic music that only last a few seconds as she stares at him in complete surprise/shock, please.

"Can I have a soda, please?" He said as he took his eyes off of his iPad to look at her briefly as he gave her his order. Riley struggled for a few seconds to say anything or move.

"Um, what flavor?" she asked still in a daze.

"Berries, please." He said not looking up this time.

"Anything else?"

"No, thank you." With that, she turned around and made her way towards the bar to get his soda.

"He didn't even remember me." She mumbled to herself with a sad look on her face as she walked. Then a smile took place on her face once again. "But he's so nice and polite to me." She said before she reached the bar. "One Berries flavored soda, please." She told the bartender who gave it to her a few seconds later. "Thank you."

She took and hurriedly made her way to Farkle's chair. She was going so fast while looking at the glass in her hands that she didn't notice the umbrella above his chair and she moved right into it, hitting her head.

"Ahhh!" She exclaimed as it hit her head and instantly, the drink in her hand was poured right on Farkle as she stumbled. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, pardon me. Are you okay? Oh my god, I'm such a clutz" She said hurriedly as she went to retrieve a towel from his chair when he stopped her.

"Don't care about me, are you okay?" Farkle said gently with worry written all over her face as he bent down slightly to inspect her face and head better for any injuries. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm okay. I didn't notice…" she said nervously. Farkle just got a tissue from the little table beside his chair.

"You head is bleeding, let me take a look." Then he gently dapped the tissue on her temple to wipe of the little bit of blood that came out. Riley just looked at him as he did so. Suddenly he seemed to realize something and smiled at her. She felt like her heart was going to stop. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She said with a smile when she realized that he finally recognized her.

"Did you start working here?"

"Yes, this is my first day."

"That's good. I wish you good luck." He smiled at her.

"Thank you." Riley said in soft shy voice.

"Oh by the way, It's just a little scratch, nothing major. It might form a bump later, though." He said as he went and dapped the tissue of her head one last time.

"I'm so sorry, I spilled all over you."

"What could possible happen to me from soda, though? Besides, I'll smell like berries for a little bit, who doesn't want that?" He said jokingly to make her feel better, which he succeeded at because she laughed lightly. "It was also refreshing in this hot weather."

"Okay… I'll get you another one, then." He nodded and she hurriedly went back to the bar. He sat back down and his phone started ringing.

"Hello?" He said as he answered.

"Mr. Farkle, the Engineer who's gonna take care of the decorations and improvements is here. Are you joining the meeting?" the manager said.

"Yes, I'll be right there." He said as he started to collect his things and hang up. He slipped his shirt and flip-flops on. Looks like he'll really smell like berries for a while. Riley met him half way with his soda in her hands.

"Here… Pardon me, once again, for spilling the first one all over you." She said as she handed him his soda, which he took from her despite that he's leaving. He's too much of gentle man to tell her that he doesn't want it anymore after she'd gotten it for him for the second time.

"No, it's okay so don't worry about it. Are you okay…." He trailed off as he looked at her name tag, "…Riley?" he finished. She felt her heart flutter when he said her name.

"I'm okay, thanks for asking." Riley said and he smiled at her before leaving her to go to his meeting. "He just said my name… for real." She said dreamly as she looked at his back as he left. "I feel like I'm gonna faint, right now."

As she turned around to go check on Maya on the beach and tell her about what had just happened, Lucas spotted her as he got out of the pool.

"Who accepted this maniac here?" He said to himself in disbelief.

In another part of the world, specifically another continent, and more specifically the UK, there was Kayli playing gulf. She often went there when she was in a good mood. She was playing against one of her mother's friends that day, though. She won in the end.

"Congratulations, you're a good player. It was a good game." Her mother's friend said as he shook her hand.

"Thank you, it was the same for me." She said with a polite smile. She then made her way to the Café that the gulf place provided and sat down to have some afternoon tea and cake. Miley spotted her as she went to sit down and called for her before making her way towards her. Kayli huffed annoyingly before turning to her with a fake smile on her face. She really hated the girl.

She hugged her and kissed her cheeks, having to tiptoe to do so as Miley was a lot taller than her.

"How are you, Miley?" Kayli said as she sat down.

"I'm fine. When did you return to the UK?" she asked as she sat down as well.

"I came here as soon as we finished college. It has only been week since I've returned." Kayli answered.

"You've been here for a week and you didn't call me?" She said with a slight pout.

"I didn't know that you were here."

"Our filming location is here in the UK… didn't you see my new show?"

"Unfortunately I don't. I never found a chance or the time to do so." Kayli said, knowing that those words will annoy Miley.

"So what have you been doing?"

"What would I be doing? Like I said I came back here as soon as we took out summer holiday from college. And next week, I'll be going to France with Lucas." Well that's not completely a lie, as Cathy had promised her mother that she'll convince Lucas' father.

"Oh, are you still together?" Miley asked in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't we still be together?"

"I don't know. I just assumed that you broke up after the news that came out lately." At that, Kayli gave a fake laugh.

"No, honey. There's nothing from that sort. I mean, You know the reporters more than I do. They like to exaggerate." She decided to have fun with this a little bit. "Seems like that girl that was beside Lucas is just Farkle's girlfriend. They went out to have fun." She smirked at the surprised look on Miley's face but quickly hid it.

"Farkle's girlfriend?"

"Yes. I still haven't met the girl but from what Lucas has told me about her, she seems like a very nice and pretty girl. Apparently, Farkle fell in love with her from the first sight." Miley look down at the table with an unreadable expression on her face, but Kayli knew exactly what she felt. "Oh, You're getting upset because of me telling you that, aren't you? I'm sorry."

"Oh, honey… Why would I get upset? I want Farkle to be happy. Besides, I broke up with him, remember? It's good that he finally found someone. You know I really upset him without meaning to with our break up…" Kayli nodded at her words. "But I think you're talking about the other day's news. You probably haven't seen today's newspaper, have you?"

The smile was wiped off of Kayli's face and was replaced with confusion. She took her phone and went to the news site online. She scrolled through the pictures and the article.

"I thought you knew about it. I'm so mad at myself, right now. I'm sorry." Miley said apologetically but Kayli knew that she was being fake. "You'll relationship will be ruined because of me, now."

"No, dear. Why would it be ruined? I trust my boyfriend. He certainly has an explanation for this." Kayli said with fake confidence as her bright blue eyes looked at Miley.

"That's possible, of course."

"I'm in a hurry today, though."

"Oh, don't let me take more of your time, then."

"Goodbye." Kayli said as she got up.

"Goodbye." With that, Kayli turned around and the confident, daring face was replaced with anger.

"She insulted me, big time. Let's see what your fricking explanation will be this time, Lucas." Kayli mumbled to herself when she was far from Miley's earshot.

Maya sighed as she made her way towards a couple who were sharing a beach chair with each other. The girl was sitting between the guy's legs in her bikini as she cuddled her. The guy kissed her temple as they talked and they were both smiling widely in pure happiness. Maya looked at them in sadness as she served their drinks on the little table beside their chair. She wished she could have what they have one day.

"When will I meet my other half? When will god give me a love like this? Am I asking for too much?" She asked herself as she made her way towards the stair that led back to the bar.

"You won't believe what happened, Peaches." Riley said as she stood in front of her and took hold of her arms, startling Maya.

"Dear god, Riley! You scared me!" When she saw how big her friend was smiling though, her curiosity perked up. "What happened-" then she noticed Riley's head. "Oh my god, what happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Don't mind that now. Guess who's here?"

"Who is it? Hurry up and tell me."

"Farkle!" Riley exclaimed.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it! How? Your destiny just came to you, pumpkin. This can NOT be a coincidence. Something will certainly happen between you too!" Maya said excitedly.

"What could possibly happen? We talked for two minutes and I pumped my head into a freaking umbrella."  
"So what? What did you talk about? Did he recognize you?"

"He didn't recognize me in the beginning but when I pumped my head and spilled his soda all over him, he did."

"Oh, Riley, you're such a klutz. I admit that was bad." Maya laughed and Riley joined her.

"Well it wasn't so bad. I mean…. He took care of me when my head started bleeding." Riley said dreamily as she remembered the encounter.

"Aw… That's so romantic!" Maya said with a sigh. Riley looked behind Maya, finally remembering where they were.

"Anyways, I'll go now. Good luck with your work." Riley said before rushing to the pool are once again after blowing Maya a kiss, which she returned. Maya made her way to two girls who just sat down.

"Hello, Would you like to order anything?"

"Can we have two slushies, please?" One of the girls said and Maya nodded before going to the bar to get them. Josh met her half way though.

"Oh, hello." Maya said as she looked at the ground shyly.

"Hello, Maya." He smiled at her as he fidgeted with his hands. "Um… It's the afternoon break…. I was going to the cafeteria to have lunch and was wondering If you'd like it if we go together…"

"That's…. Okay. I feel really hungry, too. Just let me take care of this order and then we can go."

"Okay…" Josh said and Maya gave him a smile before she went to the bar to get their slushies. She gave them their orders and then excused the chief and went with Josh to the cafeteria for Lunch.

They picked their food from the open buffet and sat down on a table. The cafeteria reminded her of her school's cafeteria, except this one was a lot fancier.

"This tastes so good!" She said as she took a bit from her chicken Alfredo spaghetti.

"The chefs here are really good. Their food is always on point and always so delicious." Josh said as he took a bit of his as well.

"They really are good." Maya said as she took a sip from her pepsi, "Josh, Thank you so much for giving us these jobs. If it wasn't for you, we would've went back LA, jobless. I'm really grateful for what you've done for us."

"Oh… No need to thank me, Maya. I did what I thought was right. I'll always be here if you need me, so don't be shy if you ever need anything." Josh said with a smile and Maya nodded with a smile as well. They went back to their food while exchanging a few words in between bites.

Riley was hurriedly making her way around chairs as she headed for the bar to get another customer's order. She went from behind Lucas' chair, which he was laying on with his eyes closed, but didn't notice him. A few moments later, he got up and jumped into the pool once again. He swam to the front of the pool, the area which was near the bar, and looked around for Riley. He finally spotted her on the bar and watched her smiling and nodding excitedly as someone called for her, motioning for him that she'll be there in a second with her finger.

Lucas shook his head as he laughed at her. Lucas kept looking at her with a smirk on his face, waiting for her to notice him. When she finally did, his smirk got bigger at the shocked expression she had on her face then he winked at her, which made her turn around quickly to hide her face from him.

"Did he really see me?" Riley asked to herself in panic.

"Will you come, please?" Lucas yelled from his place in the pool and riley looked at him before turning to the waitress that was beside her.

"Will you please go instead?" Riley begged and the girl sighed before going to Lucas.

"Yes, sir?"

"I want that lady to waiter me, will you tell her to come take my order?" Lucas told the girl who nodded.

"He wants you." She said as she reached Riley.

"Can you tell him that she is busy?" Riley asked and the girl once again nodded and went to Lucas.

"I'm sorry, sir, but she's busy. I can take your order, instead."

"Tell her that I'm waiting for her. Tell her that I want her right now." Lucas said.

"He's waiting for you and to go there right away." She told Riley who angrily stormed towards Lucas with a scowl on her face which made Lucas Laugh.

"Can't you realize it? I'm trying my best to avoid you and stay away from you, why do you keep doing this?" If he didn't hate her, he would've thought that she looked cute and sexy while she's angry. If he didn't hate her, he would've thought that she looked really good in her uniform. The thing is though, he hates her.

"Then what are you doing here if you're trying to stay away from me?" He asked as he looked up at her as he was leaning of the pool's edge. "You couldn't find another hotel to work at?"

"I didn't know that I had to take your permission or ask you where I should work at." Riley said and Lucas was about to reply when Sierra made her way towards them.

"Mr. Friar, Is there a problem?" she asked.

"Actually, yes…" He said before looking at Riley who looked at him with a terrified look on her face and he didn't know what made him change his mind. "To be more specific, there was a problem but Miss…." He trailed off as he looked at her name tag, "Riley here, helped me with it. It's all good now." Riley released a breath that she didn't realize was holding and put a fake smile on her face. "I wanted to congratulate you. You've put together such a first class team. All your employees are so nice and polite. Good job."

"Thank you, hearing this from you pleases me. Happy holiday, Mr. Friar." Sierra said before she turned around and left.

"Don't forget this favor, huh." Lucas demanded with a smirk.

"Hurry and give me your order…. That is if you even have one." Riley said with a tight smile.

"I want Cola." He said and Riley left with the same scowl from before on her face. She got it and made her way back to him before handing it to him and leaving when he took it. She didn't even get three steps away when she was stopped by his voice.

"It doesn't have ice. Ice, please." Lucas said and she clenched her fists before turning to him with that same tight smile.

"Is that how you're gonna get your revenge for what happened last night? By torturing me with serving you?" She snatched the drink from him.

"For now, yes. But I certainly do have better plans for the future." He said without looking at her.

"If I'm doing what you ask me to do, it's only because I'm embarrassed from throwing up on you, last night. That's the only reason, so keep it in mind. For that reason, don't get on my nerves." Lucas just laughed and she huffed before storming over to the bar and adding ice. She went back to him and shoved it into his hands. She didn't get three steps away before he stopped her once again.

"It doesn't have lemon in it." She snatched it and went to add lemon to it. She looked back at him as she waited for them to put the lemons to find him laughing while looking at her. If she didn't hate him and if she wasn't so angry with him, she would've thought that he looked really good while smiling. But she hated him and she would kill him in a heartbeat if she had the chance. She took the cola and made her way back to him. She didn't leave though after shoving it in his hands, already sensing that he'll call her back. She watched as he took a sip before shoving it towards her.

"I don't like it. Get me a Pink berries soda."

"Oh…. I change my mind… Get me a sprite instead." He said after she handed him his Berries soda and he once again stopped her when she was three steps away from him. She should try running the next time, then. She took it from him and got him his sprite.

"With Ice AND lemon." She said as she shoved it into his hands.

"And who said that I wanted it with ice and lemon? Make it without lemon and ice." She took it from him as he looked the other way thinking that she'll leave.

"Right away…" At that he smirked without looking at her. "Without ice…" She said as she slipped her fingers inside the glass and took the ice out before throwing it on the flower. "And without lemon." And with that she took out the lemon as well before pouring the plain sprite on top of Lucas' head. He looked at her with his mouth open before he closed it tightly and shook his head at her.

"Riley, give me your hand, please?" He said in a fake nice voice and she gave it to him foolishly. Once he had a firm grip on her hand, he pulled forward towards the pool and she literally flew right above his head, hitting him with her leg in the head, and fell into the water. The hit he received dunked him under water so he swam to the edge again and laughed at her, along with all who witnessed her fall, as she flailed her arms around then suddenly she stopped moving and that was when he panicked. Because what he didn't know or expect was…

That Riley couldn't swim.

At all.

What the hell did I do? Did I just kill her?!

Those were Lucas' last thoughts as his body started moving towards the limp body in under water.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for tonight/today's chapter. I really hope that you enjoyed that little Rucas encounter. It was barely anything but I promise you that there're more to come.**

 **I wanted to speak with you guys about a few things that I've noticed are repeated in many reviews.**

 **First of all, for those who are worrying about Rucas' relationship, don't worry. I promise you that you'll be quite satisfied with how their relationship develops, whether it's a romantic one or just simply friendship or maybe even both, you'll be satisfied. I know what kind of relationship they'll have but I want to keep it for myself, for now. I actually dropped a few hints in all of the past few chapters for you guys but they're very small and barely noticeable. If you notice, there's something that I keep repeating in every Rucas encounter, including this encounter. If you haven't noticed though... It'll be clear later on when I reveal it as the story develops.**

 **As for Maya's summer fling, that was just a TERM that Maya used at that time. It doesn't necessarily mean that Josh is ONLY a summer fling for her and that's about it. He might be... but he also might be a lot more than that.**

 **As for Riarkle, I don't know how I can explain it without giving away my plan for this but you'll be surprised with the way their relationship will develop. And remember one thing, It's not actually love when you know NOTHING about a person but his cake preferences. That's all I'm gonna say about Riarkle.**

 **Also, I'd like to thank; Daghely and Violet1429 for reviewing on every single chapter since chapter one. I wait for your comments and thoughts every chapter, tbh. I love how you express your thoughts about certain things in the chapter and stuff. **

**All in all, Thank you for everyone who reviews, you guys are really appreciated.**

 **Finally, I'm really sorry about any mistakes as I haven't really reread the chapter because my eyes are literally dropping as I'm writing this.**

 **As usual, don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and what you think will happen next as well as what you'd like to see next.**

 **Love always,**

 **Haneenxx**


	7. Chapter 7: Shit!

_Fuck…. I just killed her! She's probably dead now! What the fuck did I do? I hate her…. But not enough to actually kill her!_

That's what Lucas thought as he swam towards her. The life guard had already reached her and Lucas helped him with pulling her through the water. To be honest, the life guard was very much able to pull her on his own but Lucas felt like he had to help somehow. Her legs accidently kicked him under water and he almost went under water while trying to help her but because he was a good swimmer, he didn't.

 _Please be alive… please don't be dead…_

 _Lucas_ thought as the life guard laid her on the floor and proceeded to do CPR on her. He tried at least three times before Riley finally started coughing out water. As she did, she held onto Lucas' arm as she sat up and continued to cough out water. Without noticing, Lucas pulled her a little closer and patted her back a little and it was then that Riley noticed who exactly she was holding onto as well as the crowd which had formed around them. She pushed him away gently as she had no strength to push him away harder.

The life guard and the chief gave them towels and helped them up and into the pool chairs. Riley wrapped the towel around herself, knowing well that her white polo shirt is pretty much see through right now.

"Maniac." She mumbled, mostly to herself but Lucas heard her.

"Excuse me?"

"MANIAC! I almost drowned because of you! You almost killed me!" Riley exclaimed in anger, not caring that Mr. Malik is standing right beside Lucas… More like not noticing him.

"No, actually, YOU almost killed ME!" Lucas exclaimed as he coughed out the little bit of water that he drank from the pool.

"I honestly wish that I did! Why the hell did you pull me into the pool?!"

"And how would I know that you can't swim? You can't swim yet you work at the pool bar." Riley was about to curse him but she looked at Mr. Malik and bit her tongue to stop herself from insulting him majorly and just scowled at him. "Actually, you're the maniac!" With that, Riley stood up and stormed off angrily and Lucas followed her with his eyes as he coughed some more.

"Riley." Mr. Malik called after her and she stopped walking and her expression softened a little. "What did you just do? Do you know who you've just fought with?"

"Yes, I do. He's an idiot." She exclaimed.

"Look, I can't let this go and I can't give you a second chance either." Riley looked at him in fear, "I'm forced to write a report about you to the manager and for the mean time you're fired." With that, he left and tears started falling from Riley's eyes. Not just because of being fired, but also because of almost drowning and dying…. Again. She shook her head as she refused to remember the last time she experienced that.

She looked at Lucas, who was still looking at her from his place on the pool chair, and glared at him through her tears. Lucas didn't hear what Mr. Malik said to her, but he was able to see that she was crying and he felt really guilty because he guessed that Mr. Malik scolded her. Riley turned around and walked away and Lucas guessed that she was going somewhere to change her clothes.

He pulled his tank top back over his head and got up as well and headed to his room. Just as he closed his door, his phone began ringing and he looked to see Kayli's name on the screen. _Great! That's just what I need right now._ He sighed before answering, knowing quite well why she was calling.

"Kayli…"

"Hello, Lucas."

"How are you? What are you doing?"

"What could I possibly be doing, Lucas?" she said in a sharp tone. She was back in her light washed ripped jeans and a white off the shoulder blouse with her hair down from the pony tail it was in, heading out of the gulf place to her car. "I'm trying to get out of the shock that I've just received. I pumped into Miley while I was at the gulf place a while ago and she showed me the picture that was published today of my BOYFRIEND holding another girl's hand. I don't recall ever being this embarrassed in my life…. Ever!" She got into her car and Lucas sighed.

"Kayli-"

"I don't even know how I got away from her. I wonder what your explanation is this time. Although everything is pretty clear this time."

"It's not what it looks like, Kayli."

"Then what? You probably won't say that the girl is Farkle's girlfriend again, will you?"

"But she is! She is definitely his girlfriend." He could see Farkle saying 'not again! Leave me out of this.' _I'm so sorry Farkle! "_ A problem happened at the bar we were at last night. We don't even know how we managed to get out of there."

"And while you were running out you took her hand, didn't you?" Kayli said sarcastically. "What kind of lie is this, Lucas?"  
"It's not a lie. I swear that I'm not lying, Kayli. She was right in front of me and she almost slipped while we were running out. I just took Riley's hand in mine so that we could get out of there faster. Can't you believe me, Kayli?"

"So her name is Riley?" Lucas internally cursed himself in his thoughts. He didn't even notice that he has said her name.

"Did I say Riley?" he tried to play dump.

"Yes, you said Riley. The girl's name is Riley, isn't it?" Kayli asked in a sharp tone once again as she started her car. Lucas face palmed himself.

"Riley…. yes, that's her name."

"I think it would be a lot better if we talk about this face to face, Lucas…. And that way I'll get to meet Riley as well."

"Are you coming to the US?" Lucas asked as he once again cursed in his mind.

"Can't I? Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, of course I don't have a problem with that, babe." He lied through his teeth.

"Alright then, I'll be on the first plane to Florida. I'll inform you before I leave the UK."

"Okay, babe… Good bye." He said.

"Good bye, Lucas." Kayli said and hanged up then started driving her mini cooper towards her house to pack.

"Shit… What am I gonna do now?" Lucas thought aloud as he face palmed himself once again. He threw his phone on the sofa before going to take a quick shower.

* * *

Riley took a quick shower and blow dried her hair before she put on a pair of neon yellow shorts, that are not so bright but more on the settle type of color, paired with a white tank top and a denim sleeveless vest on top as well as a pair of white sandals. She didn't bother with much makeup as she just applied concealer, powder to set it in, blusher and mascara. She also filled her eyebrows in. She made sure to blow dry her hair in certain way so that it would end up wavy like she preferred it and left it down before heading towards the beach to talk to Maya.

She was actually deciding whether or not to talk to her and tell her, her decision as she saw her busy serving someone. When they locked eyes, Riley knew that she had no other option than to tell her so she made her way towards her.

"Riley..." Maya said as she met her halfway. She looked at her outfit in confusion, "What happened, Riles?"

"I'm going back to LA, Maya." Riley stated.

"Why? What happened?"

"… I got fired."

"What?! Why?"

"Because of that jerk again." Riley said in an angry tone at thought of Lucas.

"I can't believe this…"

* * *

Miley looked at the people around her as she kept stirring her tea. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice her friend sitting down on the other chair.

"What's wrong? You look upset."

"Farkle is dating someone…" She said with a sigh.

"What? And he said he can't forget you easily." Her friend said sarcastically. "It hasn't even been a month since your break up and he already found someone."

"Dating someone else doesn't mean that he forgot me, dear. Sometimes it means the opposite. Farkle will be mine again when I want to." She said as she smirked at her friend.

 _ ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***_

"Okay then…. We'll start our improvements for the roof bar according to what we talked about." Farkle said as he handed the engineer the file that had everything needed.

"okay…" he said as he took the folder from him.

"I'll give my orders to the employees according to this then." The manager told Farkle.

"Okay… I'll see you later then" Farkle said and they both left. It was almost eleven in the morning but it felt like it's three in the afternoon for him. He checked his schedule and decided to take a nap since the party was at six O'clock, so he made his way up to his room. He decided to call his sister before taking his nap though.

"Hello, Brother." She answered happily as she and her friend, Sofia, made their way out of her blue convertible Mini cooper.

"Hey, little sis. What are you doing?"

"Nothing much. Me and Sofia just arrived at Ian's café to drink something…. What about you? How are things going like at the hotel?" They made their way to the Café and sat on one of tables that were outside.

"They're going good…. I felt worried about you, though." He said as he changed into some loose shorts to sleep in, keeping his V-neck on after taking the blazer he had off.

"I'm okay, Brother… Don't worry."

"Is Ian there?" He laid down on bed as he asked her. As he said that, she froze as she spotted Ian talking to one of the waiters. She stared at him with a love-struck look on her face.

While she stares at him, let me tell you about her. Caitlyn is a petit sixteen years old girl and a swimmer. She has beautiful dirty blonde hair that almost went to the middle of her back and blue eyes that were a lot brighter and a lot more noticeable than Farkle's. Farkle's eyes were blue but you barely noticed that from a far. Caitlyn was curvy in all the right places and short. **(AN; go on instagram at _BriaByerley_ and that's who I'm describing, Face and hair wise.) **

"He's here, Brother." She said as she saw him making his way towards them.

"Hello, girls." Ian said with a smile on his face when he reached their table.

"Hey, Ian…. I'm talking to my brother and he was just asking about you." She couldn't contain the big smile that took place on her face.

"Tell him that I'll be in Miami this evening and to send me the hotel's address." Ian said.

"I will send it to him." Farkle said as he heard him through the phone.

"He said that he will."

"Anyway, do you need anything, baby girl?" Farkle asked.

"No but… Um, I was wondering if I could come to Miami as well" She asked nervously.

"Where did that idea come from, all of a sudden?" Farkle asked in confusion.

"Nowhere… It'll be just a change of weather, Brother…. I'm bored with LA, right now." She looked at Ian who smiled slightly at her.

"There is the grand opening ceremony in a few days anyways, Cait. You can come with dad then."

"What if I came today with Ian?" She looked at Ian and he nodded in agreement. "Isn't that possible?"

"And why be a burden for him, baby girl? Just come with dad."

"You should come with me. I'm going on my own anyways. You'll keep my company, little thing." Ian said raising his voice slightly so that Farkle hears him over the phone. Caitlyn smiled even bigger.

"Ian is saying that it's okay, Farkle." She said excitedly.

"Caitlyn, stop insisting on it." Farkle said sternly.

"Off, Farkle!" Caitlyn huffed and Ian extended his arm towards her so that she can give him the phone.

"Why are you upsetting the girl, dude? We can come together, I don't have any problem with that." Ian said.

"Hmm…" Farkle sighed as he thought about it. He can't really say no after all this insisting. "Okay, she can come with you today." At that, Ian nodded at Caitlyn and she jumped from her seat excitedly.

"Okay… See ya.…. Oh and don't forget to send me the address…. Bye." Ian said and hanged up after Farkle said goodbye. Caitlyn hugged him out of excitement and he laughed slightly at her excitement..

"Thank you so much, Ian." She said when she pulled away.

"Anytime, little thing. I'll book your ticket right now and come pick you up at ten thirty, okay?"

"Okay… I'll go pack now." She pulled the smiling Sofia towards her car and they both waved at Ian goodbye. "We should go to the mall… its seven so if we spend two and a half hours there, I'll have an hour to get ready." Sofia nodded and Caitlyn drove off towards the mall. "I should buy somethings that will make me look sexy and older, shouldn't I?"

"You probably forgot that your brother will be there, didn't you?" Sofia said.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about that because of my excitement… I can't believe I'm going to Miami with Ian…. Oh my god that's a dream come true, Sofia!" She said excitedly as she parked her car in the mall's parking lot. They went inside and started their shopping spree.

* * *

"How…. How can he pull you into the pool? You could've drowned" Maya exclaimed after Riley finished telling her everything.

"Yes… I honestly felt like I was dying and to top everything off, I got fired."

"And to top THAT off, for the second time… because of him."

"I wasn't supposed to come here." Riley said as she shook her head.

"Don't say that, Riles. You didn't have anything to do with it. It's that stupid jerk's fault…. We'll look for another place for you to work in. Maybe Josh will be able to help us again."

"No, Maya… I'll go back to LA."

"Riley, you can't go back so suddenly. Are you gonna leave me alone?" Maya said desperately.

"I can't stay here for longer, Maya."

"Look at the bright side, Pumpkin. Farkle is here, too. Are you just gonna leave that chance that was given to you and go?"

"What chance are you talking about, Maya? He's a client in a hotel like this and I'm just a person who even succeed in working at such hotel. There's absolutely no meaning for my dreams of him. If I stay here for that non-existing chance you're talking about, I'll be sadder later on." Maya looked at her sympathetically. She was really sad for her friend.

"You know better than I do… Are you going back right away?"

"I'll call my mother and ask her to send me money and I'll go back right when she does." Maya stood there and looked at her hands as she thought about something.

"No, don't call her right now." Maya said as she walked past Riley.

"Where are you going?" Riley asked confused.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere and don't call your mother yet." With that she ran off and Riley sat on one of the beach chairs.

Maya went to a jewelry shop that she had seen earlier inside the hotel and took off her pure gold bracelet.

"Hello." The sales lady greeted with a smile.

"Hello… May I ask about something?" Maya said with a smile as well.

"Yes, of course."

"How much could this bracelet cost?" She handed her the bracelet and watched as she weighed it and calculated stuff.

In the meantime, Lucas was back at the pool dressed in a pastel pink v-neck, a pair of beige jean shorts and a pair navy blue vans.

"Where did she go…?" He said as he shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and looked around some more. "She'll never accept after what happened. I'll convince her somehow."

"Mr. Friar, Hello. I was looking for you, too." Mr. Malik said when he approached him. "Pardon me, you're okay, aren't you?"

"I'm okay…" He said as he looked around some more.

"We did what was necessary regarding that employee, sir. Don't worry about it." At that Lucas looked at him.

"How so?"

"She got fired, sir."

"Why did you fire her? Did I complain about her actions?! She didn't do anything. I pulled her into the pool." Lucas exclaimed.

"When I saw the way she was acting with you and how she treated you, Mr. Friar…"

"Doesn't matter now. Did she leave the hotel? How can I reach her?" Lucas asked and Mr. Malik looked at him strangely at how frantic he was to find her.

"I'll…. Make them look for her, sir."

"Do that as fast as humanly possible, please." Mr. Malik nodded and ran off.

* * *

Riley huffed as she waited for Maya and looked around her. She spotted Maya coming her way with a smile on her face and stood up. Maya just pointed the money towards her and Riley looked at it.

"Where did you get this from?" Riley asked.

"Leave that alone and take it." Maya said with the smile still on her face. "Allow me to do this one thing for you." As Riley looked at Maya's wrist, she noticed Maya's bracelet missing. It was hard not to notice that as Maya never took it unless for emergencies and now her wrist only had her white watch wrapped around it.

"Did you sell your bracelet, Maya?"

"It's old fashioned now anyways."

"I know how much you love that bracelet, Maya…. I can't accept this money."

"Riley… If you don't accept it, you'll make me really sad…. And besides, I'm the one who dragged you over here and I'm the one who got your money stolen. So please, take the money…. Consider it as a way of saying sorry for causing you all the trouble. I'll feel much better if you take it." Riley sighed and hugged Maya tightly.

"Thank you so much, Maya. I'll never forget this favor." Riley said and they stayed in each other's embrace for a few minutes.

"Is Miss Riley who works at the pool bar there?" Mr. Malik asked Emma over the phone. "I need to reach her quickly."

"She signed off about a half hour ago, Mr. Malik. It's possible that she's out of the hotel by now." She said.

"Okay, Miss Emma. Thank you." He said before turning back to Lucas. "She signed off about a half hour ago, sir." Lucas huffed and left him.

"I put you in a hard situations as well, Josh. I'm so sorry." Riley said as she, Maya and Josh stood together in the hotel's lobby, near the exit/entrance.

"Don't be sorry, Riley. I'm also upset about what happened and you having to leave. I mean, you got fired when you weren't even at fault. Our managers are really sensitive towards our clients' acceptance and enjoyment, so they don't show any kind of forgiveness."

"They were right as well, Josh. I mean, they don't know exactly what happened so it's the natural thing to fire me…. Anyways, what happened, happened. It was a pleasure to meet you, Josh."

"It was a pleasure meeting you too, Riley." He said with a sad smile and Riley hugged him.

"Thank you for everything." She pulled away before pointing at Maya, "I'm leaving Maya in your hands, you'll take care of her, aren't you?"

"Don't worry about her, I'll take care of her."

"Off, Riley! I'm gonna cry now." Maya said as her eyebrows frowned.

"No, don't cry, Peaches." A car honked from outside.

"Your taxi is here…" Josh said and she waved at him goodbye as her and Maya went outside. Lucas was now looking around the lobby. When she went outside, the taxi driver took her suitcase from her and she turned to Maya after thanking him.

"I wish you'd stay with me." Maya said that and threw herself in Riley's arms, tiptoeing a little due to how short she was compared to Riley. She was the same height as Riley with heels, but because she was wearing converse, the height difference was there. She felt like she was about to cry so she took a deep breath and pulled away, "Okay…. I won't make this harder… Call me when you arrive, okay?"

"Okay… I'll call you every day as well, don't worry." Riley said with a sad smile before waving at Maya one last time and getting into the taxi. As she waved at Maya from the taxi, Lucas was getting out from those stupid spinning doors.

"NO… WAIT!" He yelled after the taxi but it was of no use. Then he looked at Maya, "Was that girl in the taxi your friend? Do you know where she's going?"

"She's going to the airport. She got fired because of some stupid jerk…. Besides, who the hell are you? Why are you asking about my Riley?" Lucas didn't answer her and went to the guy who called for taxis. Maya stood in her place, watching him.

"Can you get me a taxi, please?" Lucas asked him.

"I'll call one for you sir, it'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"I don't have time for that." Lucas said and then he noticed the driver getting into a car, ready to take it to the garage. "Hey…. Get out, get out." He told the driver as he opened the car door and the driver got out. "I need the car for a little while."

"Who are you?!" Maya exclaimed.

"Thank you for the insult." That was all he said before getting into the car a driving off.

"What insult… I didn't insult him at all… all I said was that she was fired because of a stupid jerk…" Maya thought about his words aloud as she went back into the hotel. "That was the only insult that came out of my mou-" she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the lobby before turning to look at the door in shock.

"Shit!" was all she said as she realized what she just did.

* * *

 **For some reason, I feel like this was an informative chapter even though its probably not. It covered a lot of characters, somehow. Like we had Josh, Kayli, Maya, Lucas, Riley, Farkle, Caitlyn, Sofia, Mr. Malik, Miley... many of the story's characters so far.**

 **Anyhow, I really hope that you liked this chapter and enjoyed it, despite that it's not that long. I can guarantee that next chapter will make those of you who want more Rucas pretty satisfied. Not only the next one though... *Wink*Wink***

 **Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Every single review made me super happy.**

 **I wanted to reply to a thing that Violet1429 said... Maya WAS too focused on finding a guy but now she's focused on other things, like her job and Riley. As for Kayli and Rucas' relationship development, Miami is a major factor in its development but it's just that, a factor. Miami will make them realize certain stuff but not the kind of stuff you guys want them to discover... yet. Later on, Kayli will definitely be the biggest cause of complications in this story.**

 **I want to do it the other way around this time, so instead of asking you guys a question, since there wasn't anything question worthy in this chapter, how about you guys ask me something?**

 **one thing I'll ask though, what do you think will happen next?**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	8. Chapter 8: L-O-V-E

"It seems like the blue is a little bit washed out for this one. I'm stuck between the pink and purple." Ella said as she looked at the three packagings in front of her.

"I think that the purple one is the best." Her assistant said.

"You think so?"

"Yes, it looks pretty."

"If that's the case…" Ella trailed of as she heard heels clicking. She looked towards the door where Kayli had just walked in with a weird expression on her face.

"Good morning." Kayli said with a small smile before sitting down.

"Good morning, Kayli." Her mother said frowning slightly at her zoned out expression. She turned back to her assistant to finish what she was doing quickly, "The caps will be gold right?" she pointed at the clear caps that the containers had.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Um…. What do you think, Kayli? Which color?" Ella asked her. Kayli looked at them briefly before sighing.

"The purple one."

"Great, then purple it is. Let's continue this later, shall we?" Ella asked her assistant with a smile.

"As you like, Mrs. Ella." The assistant took the three products with her and left the mother and daughter alone. Ella looked at her daughter who just looked in front of her while swirling her hair around her finger.

"Kayli, what's wrong, dear?" Kayli seemed to think before she turned to her mother, with a determined look on her face now.

"Mom, I'm going to Miami, today." Kayli stated.

"Did Lucas call?"

"Yes."

"That's good. That means that you solved the problem that was between you guys." A smile took place on Ella's face but it didn't last very long.

"No, that mister was in today's news again. And to top that off, he was holding a girl's hand" Kayli said raising her voice slightly in frustration.

"I can't believe this." Ella said as she leaned on her desk with her elbows. "What was his explanation this time?"

"He said that she's Farkle's girlfriend once again." Ella shook her head but didn't say anything and after a few moments, Kayli added, "Her name is Riley. I'll talk to her and see for myself if he's saying the truth. For that reason, I told him that I was going to Miami today and that I'll get to meet Riley."

"Hmm… and what did he say about that?"

"What could he say? He panicked a little at first and went like 'don't you trust me?' and stuff"

"I don't think that Lucas is lying but maybe your visit will be useful. You'll feel at peace when you meet the girl and It'll be a holiday for you as well. We were going to go together next week for the opening ceremony anyways."

"Oh! There will be an opening ceremony?" Kayli asked excitedly. "And how exactly did you know that, Mom?" She said with a smirk and Ella looked anywhere, but her.

"Mr. Minkus called me and invited us…" She trailed off as she scratched her neck awkwardly, still avoiding Kayli's eyes.

"Hmmm… And why would Mr. Minkus call you to invite you? Cathy could've done so." Kayli said with fake confusion and Ella gave a little laugh.

"Why not, darling? We work together… Oh! I forgot to tell you. We'll be responsible for toiletries and body/skin care products for the entire hotel. We even have a meeting tomorrow."

"So you're flying to LA tomorrow, then."

"Actually, I planned on leaving tomorrow but since you're already going to the US today, I'll just go with you. I want to talk to Cathy as well."

"What are you going to talk about?" Kayli asked cautiously.

"I think it'll be for the best if you and Lucas get engaged by the end of summer at least. That way, people will shut up about you two and Lucas will pay more attention to his actions as your relationship takes a more serious level." Kayli smiled at her mother's thoughts.

"I don't think Lucas will be too fond of this idea, mom." Kayli said with a shake of her head.

"Lucas' opinion and approval are not that important, love. Myself and Cathy will take care of everything. Especially because she's too embarrassed after those articles. She won't say no to me. Besides, I'm pretty confident that that's what she's thinking about as well. Don't worry yourself, Kayli." Kayli smiled bigger and nodded at her mother.

* * *

Lucas didn't know what exactly he was doing, to say the least. He was usually quite reckless but never reckless enough to take someone's car without permission and he never went after any girl, not even Kayli who's been his girlfriend for almost three years. Yet here he was, driving a car that god knows who it belongs to, and going after a girl who he knows nothing about but her first name.

When he was close enough to the taxi, he flashed his front lights and kept honking for him. He couldn't drive right or left as this was a tiny, two-way road. The taxi driver noticed him from his side mirrors and looked at Riley through the rear view mirror.

"Ma'am, do you know the car behind us?" He asked and Riley looked at him with confusion before she turned around and looked at the car behind them. Because she had really sharp eye sight, she was able to know that it was Lucas. He waved with his hands for the driver to stop.

"You again." Riley hissed in a whisper. "I don't him… keep driving and don't stop no matter what he does." The driver nodded and did as told.

When they were on the main road, Lucas changed lanes and drove beside the taxi.

"Hey! Stop the Car!" He called to Riley as he kept looking from her to the road ahead.

"What else do you want from me?" Riley yelled as she stuck her head out of the window.

"It's very important, we need to talk… Stop the taxi!"

"I can't and I won't!" Riley exclaimed before sticking her head back inside.

"Don't be hard headed! C'mon, I'm telling you that it's important."

"OOOF LUCAS! OOOFF!" She huffed before she turned to the driver, "Pardon me, can you please pull over in any suitable place, please?" he nodded and shifted lanes before pulling over the side of the road and Lucas followed suit. Riley opened her door and stormed towards Lucas who also got out of the car. "What the hell do you want for me? Are you like a catastrophe on top of my head that just follows me everywhere? Because of you, I got fired TWICE and I almost died TWICE! What else do you want?!" Riley exclaimed angrily.

"Look, I'm really sad for everything that has happened to you and specially getting fired when you did nothing. Really, I feel guilty. But I can't say that you brought me good luck either. The bar fight and don't even forget puking on me." Riley looked at the floor when he mentioned puking and he sighed. "Anyways, I talked to the hotel." He moved past her to the taxi's trunk and took out her suitcase. "You can start working once again." He paid the driver and took her backpack from the backseat.

"Did you follow me for that?" Riley asked confused as he closed the backseat door.

"Actually there's something else." Riley panicked as the driver drove off and she lunged forward towards it where Lucas stopped her.

"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WAIT!" Riley yelled as she tried to get past Lucas bu the taxi drove further away.

"How about we talk on our way back?" Lucas suggested before he went towards the driver's seat and opened the door but didn't get in.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! I have a plane to catch, for God's sake!" She exclaimed after him. "Now my taxi is gone because of you, you stupid jerk!"

"Are you coming or not?" He asked with a smirk and Riley just shrugged. He got into the car and started it as she pulled herself and her suitcase away from in front of his car and to the side.

She looked at him angrily as he drove off. He drove off for a little distance before stopping and Riley looked around trying to spot another taxi. She huffed in frustration as she started stomping her feet with a few jumps to let go of her frustration. Lucas was watching her and laughed at her because he honestly thought that she looked like a cute crazy person doing that. _Wait did I just say cute?_ _I can't say that… I hate her._

He drove his car backwards towards her and when she noticed, she looked the other way pretending like nothing just happened.

"Are you getting in? Look, I'm asking you for the last time." He said from the passenger window once he was in front of her. She looked around and when she realized that there won't be any taxis soon, she huffed and dragged her suitcase towards the trunk while Lucas just chuckled.

"THE TRUNK!" She yelled from the back for him to open it and he did. She put her suitcase in, silently cursing him for not helping her, before she made her way towards the passenger side and got in and fastened her seatbelt. "Okay, what do you want to talk to me about?" She asked once he started driving to, where she assumed, the airport. She realized that she was wrong through when he took a turn heading the other way. "Where are you going?! Will you just take me to the hotel?! I'll miss the only plane to LA!"

"You got your job back, there's no need for you to go now." He said as he looked at her briefly.

"Oooff! I didn't even get a day free of problems ever since I met you." Lucas smirked at her words. "Will you just take me to the airport, please? I said please."

He took a sharp left and went into a narrow, rocky road that didn't look like it was made for driving. Riley looked at him with a frown on her face and he looked back at her briefly. She was getting even more annoyed due to the jerkiness of the car because of the rocky road. To her, it seemed like they were in some sort of forest because they were surrounded by huge trees.

"Are sure of that road you're taking?" she asked, concerned.

"Of course, it's a shortcut." He said as a matter of fact.

"Okay. What are you going to talk to me about? Will you just talk?" He looked at her and the suddenly the car stopped moving. He tried pressing on the benzene but nothing happened. The sounds that the tires were making made it seem like they were stuck in something. He stuck his head out of the window but was jerked back with his seatbelt. He huffed in annoyance and took it off. "What's wrong? Why are we not moving?" Riley asked as he looked out of the window.

"UGH! We're stuck in some mud." Lucas said in frustration.

"I told you! What are we doing in a road like this? What are we going to do now?" Lucas huffed before turning to her.

"I'll find a solution if you keep that little mouth of yours shut." He said and she turned away from him but looked back at him as he opened the car door. His feet sunk in to the mud that his shoes were almost fully covered. Riley made a disgusted face as Lucas grunted in disgust as well.

He stood away from the mud and inspected the situation to find a way out for them. He huffed as he thought about it.

"Riley, will you sit behind the steering wheel please?" he said as he bent down to look at her through the window before heading towards the trunk.

"I can't drive." Riley stated.

"What can you do anyways?!" Lucas exclaimed in frustration and Riley chose not to answer as she scowled. "Whatever. Just get behind the wheel and I'll tell you what you need to do. It's not that hard anyways since it's an automatic car." Riley huffed before taking off her seatbelt and getting into the driver's seat.

"Okay! Now what?" She yelled from her place in the car.

"Look… The car is on anyways so just pull the handbrakes down first. You know where it is, don't you?" He was looking at Riley through the side mirror and she looked at him in frustration through them.

"We'll find out." She said before she started looking for it beside her. She was basically just looking for something that you can pull up or down but all she found were buttons. Lots of them.

"C'mon!"

"I can't find it! And don't yell at me!"

"OOOOOOFFF RILEY!" Lucas huffed before going towards her and pulling a button from under the steering wheel and going back to his place behind the trunk after giving her a glare. "Look, the pedal that is on the left is the benzene pedal. Press on it, lightly. Lightly, Riley, okay?" she pressed on it and the tires only kicked some more mud. "Press a little harder, but still lightly." While she did so, he pushed the car from the back, "Press… Press." Every time he yelled that, she pressed more and he pushed more until suddenly the car jerked forward.

Because of inexperience with driving, she didn't know that she was supposed to turn the steering wheel. So the car drove right into a huge tree, damaging the front of it. Lucas ran towards it as she looked at the tree in panic. Lucas glanced at her first and then at the damage done. Riley bit her lip as she got out of the car.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked in concern.

"I am… I'm so sorry that I ruined your car." Riley said guiltily.

"It wouldn't have been much of a problem if it was my car." He said as they both looked at the damage.

"Then who's car is it?" Riley asked in confusion.

"I don't know. It wouldn't have been a problem either if I knew who it belonged to. I took a client's car from the hotel so that I could follow you." Lucas said shrugging.

"So you stole it? Did we crash a stolen car?"

"Technically, you crashed a stolen car."

"SHUT UP!" Riley exclaimed and Lucas jumped back slightly in surprise. "We just needed to get arrested. Yep, that's just what we need." She said mostly to herself. "YOU STUPID JERK! If it weren't for your freaking 'shortcut' we wouldn't be in this situation."

"What?" Lucas said, "YOU crashed the car! I told you to press lightly and you went over board and CRASHED it. This is NOT my fault!"

Riley just chose to glare at him and not answer back. They heard buzzing coming from above them and looked up to see a beehive hanging very loosely from the tree the car crashed into. One bee was flying around them and then the beehive fell to the floor, all the bees flying out of it. They looked at each other in panic.

"BEES!" They both exclaimed, "HURRY! LET'S GO!"

"Run!" Lucas took hold of Riley's and they both started running away from the bees. They kept running with the bees following them until they were met with a little lake and Riley stopped in her tracks as Lucas moved to get into it. He turned to her, "Bees can't live in water, C'mon."

"I can't get into the water…" Riley said in fear.

"Don't worry… I'll hold on to you. You just try not panic and drown me, okay? C'mon hop on my back." He said trying to calm her but she was still skeptical. "Trust me, Riley. I won't let go of you." He said softly but hurriedly and she nodded before hopping on his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck tightly but not tight enough to kill him. He held one of her hands that was around his neck and started walking into the water. And as expected, the bees didn't follow.

* * *

"Why is he not answering once again?" Kayli wondered to herself as finished packing. She was calling Lucas to tell him that she'll be leaving now, but he didn't answer his phone. To her, he was just not answering, but in reality, his phone got damaged by the water.

"Kayli." Her mother said upon entering her room. "Are you ready, baby girl?"

"Yes, mom."

"Did you inform Lucas that you're leaving now?"

"No, I called him but he's not answering. I'll try again…. What about you? Are you ready?"

"I'm done packing but my plane won't leave until two in the afternoon. It's still ten in the morning."

"Did you tell Cathy?" Kayli asked and her mother sat down on her bed.

"No… You call her first and inform her that you're going to Miami and then give her to me. Make her feel like you're breaking up with Lucas, you know? So that she panics a little." Ella said and Kayli nodded.

Cathy was at the mall looking for a dress for the opening ceremony and just doing general shopping. She was at her favorite store trying on a classic red dress while the sales assistant stood behind her holding another three dresses.

"Did you change your measurements?" She asked as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"No, Ma'am."

"But your dresses used to fit me perfectly." Before the sales assistant could say anything, Cathy's phone started ringing and she went to retrieve it from her bag. "Hey, Kayli."

"Hey, Aunt Cathy. Are you busy?" Kayli asked sweetly.

"No, sweetheart. How are you?"

"I'm okay, thank you… How are you?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. I went out to look for a dress for the opening ceremony that you know about. I was choosing a dress for that." The sales assistant showed her a yellow dress similar to the one she was wearing to which she shook her head about. "You and Ella are coming to that ceremony, aren't you?"

"Yes…. Actually, I'm leaving to Florida in a few minutes. My plane will land in Miami at five thirty." Kayli said. **(AN; Let's pretend that the flying time isn't +9hrs)**

"Okay then…. Kayli, there isn't a problem, right?"

"I don't know, I need to talk to Lucas face to face first, Aunt Cathy. You probably saw the news that came out today."

"Yeah, I saw it. You're not breaking up, are you?"

"I don't know, Aunt Cathy. It all depends on my meeting with Lucas. I really hope that what he's saying about this is true."

"It's true, honey. It's true. Besides, Lucas got really upset because of what happened. He keeps saying that he didn't have anything to do with it. You know that Lucas is his mama's boy. He always tells me the truth no matter what." The sales assistant showed her a pink dress with a deep neckline and she shook her head once again.

"We'll see. Anyways, my mom wants to talk to you." Kayli said before handing her mother the phone.

"Ella, How are you?"

"I'm good, Cathy….. Um, Cathy, I'm coming to the LA this evening. Are you free to drink coffee with me?"

"Really? I'd like that, I'm free. Let me send you my driver to pick you up from the airport if you'd like that."

"Thanks for offering, Cath. No need for that."

"Okay then, darling. I'll be waiting for you tonight."

"Alright… Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Cathy said before hanging up. "And now Ella is upset because of what happened too. If we can just put the damn rings on their fingers and be at rest." Cathy said to herself and sighed before going back to her shopping spree.

* * *

When they were able to walk through the water one again, Lucas put Riley down without taking his hand out of hers even once. To be honest, neither of them noticed that they were still holding hands. Thankfully, they didn't need to do much swimming as the lake wasn't too deep. It only reached a little bit below Lucas' collarbone and only Riley's middle back since she was on his back.

Upon finally getting out of the water, Lucas remembered his phone and face palmed himself. He took his phone out of his pocket and huffed when, as expected, it didn't turn on.

"Now the phone is ruined too. Ugh!"

"We have to go back to the car. My suitcase, backpack, wallet and cellphone are in the car." Riley said as she swiped her bangs out of her face as the wind blew her hair.

"I'm not going back there." Lucas stated. "Let's get out to the main road and we'll find someone to help us. The rest is easy after that." Riley nodded and looked around. It seemed like they were still in that forest like place. Either that or the country side. She had a feeling that it's the latter. They starting walking straight ahead as this was the only trees-free way.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Maya had gone back to her work but all she could think about was what was going on with Lucas and Riley. She wondered if he was able to catch Riley or not. Whether he stopped her from getting on the plane or not. Whether if she'd like him or not if he were to make Riley stay. And most importantly, she wondered what exactly he wanted from her pumpkin.

As she waited for the bartender to make the order she gave him, she scrolled through her phone looking at her and Riley's pictures from yesterday and smiled sadly. Josh sneaked up behind her and taped on her shoulder. She turned to him and gave a small smile.

"Are you okay, Maya?" He asked in concern.

"I'm okay." She assured him and he looked at the phone that she place on the counter before turning to him, which was still displaying one of her and Riley's pictures.

"Did you talk to Riley? There's no problems, right?"

"I called her but I couldn't reach her. What I'm really worried about is that that jerk who caused her all this trouble freaked out when he saw her leaving and went after her. I'm afraid that he'll cause her more problems." She said with a frown. "Ugh, Riley! Why did you go?" Josh looked at her nervously and opened his mouth before closing it once again. "Did you want to say something to me?"

"Um… I was worried about you and I was curious about if you'd like to come with me to a party tonight. There's a summer's welcoming party tonight at the hotel's roof bar right there." He pointed at the bridge like things in the water. "Maybe we could go together if you don't have work to do." He said nervously.

"That would be amazing…" Maya said after thinking for a few moments. "I was starting to regret coming here. I have two hours of work left and then I'm off."

"Okay… We'll meet tonight then." Josh said goodbye and then headed back towards where he came from. "Alright… Maybe I can still have a little bit of fun." She said with a slight smile before turning to the pictures with a frown, "Oooff, Riley. If only you stayed for one more night, what would've happened?"

"You can take the order, it's ready." The bartender told her and she nodded before locking her phone and taking the order.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

As Riley suspected, they were in the countryside. She looked at the fields, loving how green the place looked. Riley was a person who loved nature. It made her feel peaceful. This atmosphere in particular was making her extra peaceful because it reminded her of when her and her father would grow plants in their backyard together. When he was still alive, they had the greenest, prettiest backyard in their neighborhood. It's still pretty and green now, just not the same.

Riley pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and a grumble was heard when she finished doing so. Lucas looked at her and chuckled as he walked with his hands casually in his pockets.

"That sound came from my stomach, for your information. I'm so hungry since I haven't eaten anything except a little sandwich when I woke up." Riley told him and he laughed some more.

"I'm hungry too." He stated with a smile and Riley smiled as well. He looked at her and noticed how her smile made her entire face shine. It could be the sun though. When he looked up, he saw a gate to what looked like a little farm or backyard. "Oh, our luck is back! Come on." He told her before opening the gate and heading inside, with Riley following him.

They walked through the farm together and Riley smiled at the place around her.

"Are we going inside someone's property without permission?" Riley asked Lucas, who looked around him.

"Let's go and see if there's anyone in the house." He said pointing at a small house in front of them. They headed towards it and Lucas knocked on the door a few times. "Hello? Is anybody there?" he called as he knocked some more.

"There's probably no one in there." Riley said. Lucas looked around them as he spotted an apples tree.

"Let's at least fill our tummies, then." He said heading towards them.

"We can't. We can't take their fruits without permission, Lucas. That's rude." Riley said and he stopped and looked at her. He took out a fifty bucks bill from his pocket and waved it at her with a smile before sticking it on a little plant that was hanged above the door.

"Now we can. C'mon." Riley sighed and shook her head before following him towards the tree.

"They're so high in the tree." Riley said once they've reached it.

"How am I gonna get up there?" Lucas wondered aloud before looking around them, "Isn't there a ladder or something around here?" At that, Riley giggled and he looked at her confused.

"What ladder are you talking about? Have you never climbed a tree when you were younger?" Riley asked with the smile still on her face.

"No… My mother never allowed me to because falling was a huge possibility." He said and Riley just looked at him.

"Okay, I'll do it then. I spent my entire childhood climbing trees anyways." She said and headed towards the tree.

"Be careful and don't fall. You'll hurt your leg and make me carry you." He said with a smirk and Riley looked at him with a blank expression.

"Haha, very funny." With that she turned around and started climbing the tree and Lucas' smirk turned into a grin. Lucas moved to the side and looked to his side when he felt something hitting him square in the face. Turns out, Riley threw a small apple at him. "Hey! What are you looking at so stupidly?" Riley yelled from her place on top of the tree.

"Why do you get mad so fast? Go ahead and throw 'em, I'll catch this time." He said and she picked out another one and threw it to him and he caught it before putting it in his pocket since it was small enough to fit. She threw him three more and each one had the same fate as the first one. "Alright now, C'mon."

"Okay, but help me… Catch me." She said and he nodded before moving towards her. He stood with his hands up and once she was close, he put his hands on her waist. She got her leg stuck in a branch as she was almost on the ground and when she got it out, Lucas fell back from her jerk taking her with him to the ground.

Once they fell, she opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into Lucas' eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments seemingly lost in each other's eyes without even noticing it. Without feeling, Lucas tucked a strand of hair that fell out from her bangs behind her ears and that was when Riley was brought back to reality. He smiled at her and before she allowed herself to think further about his smile, she frowned and pushed herself off his chest and got up.

"It's a good thing that I asked you to help me." Riley said as she dusted herself off, with what just happened totally forgotten… that's what she thought. Lucas smirked at her before getting up as well.

"Sorry, I forgot how heavy you are." He said. She was as light as a feather and he knew that but she didn't need to know that he knew that. He handed her two apples and they both wiped them clean with their T-shirts and ate them as they moved towards the gate they entered from. Once they almost reached it, a tractor was passing by so Riley ran towards the gate faster.

"C'mon, It's a tractor. Hurry up, hurry up." Riley shouted to Lucas as she ran.

"What? Are we getting into a tractor?" Lucas asked her in disbelief and she looked back at him as she stopped.

"Right. You're used to fancy cars. Suit yourself." She said sarcastically before running after the tractor. Lucas sighed before going after her. "HEY! MISTER! PLEASE WAIT FOR US! STOP!" Riley yelled after the driver as she ran as fast as she can. Because of the tractor's noise, he couldn't hear her. "RUN FASTER!" She yelled at Lucas who was far behind her. "PLEASE, MISTER WAIT FOR US! STOP!" She was now near enough so he heard her and stopped the tractor.

"Our car broke down… Can you take us to the main road, please?" Riley asked the old man and he smiled at her warmly.

"Of course, Let me take you there. Hop in the back." He pointed towards the trunk.

"Thank you, Mister." Riley said and her and Lucas got into the trunk.

"All good?"

"Yes." Riley told him after they both sat down in the trunk and he started moving again. "It was good pumping into this. I haven't been in a tractor since I was seven. Its fun, isn't it?" Riley said after a few minutes, raising her voice so that he could hear her over the noise.

"Very." He said sarcastically and looked the other way.

"Whatever. What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked and he sighed as he looked at her face.

"I was going to ask you for a small favor." Riley leaned back a little and looked at him surprised.

"You were gonna ask _me_ for a favor?" he nodded. "What is it?"

"Let's get to the hotel first, then we'll talk about it." He said with a sigh.

"It's probably something that I won't like. That why you're not telling me now." At that, Lucas smiled a little.

"You're smarter than you look like." His smile widened as a frown took place on her face.

"What does that mean? Do I look stupid?" She asked.

"That's not what I meant to say."

"What does 'you're smarter than you look like' mean, then?" She asked in frustration, "It means 'You look stupid'. Why did you think of me that way? What did I do that made you think that I'm stupid?" Lucas chuckled and Riley huffed before crossing her arms and turning her head towards the other side. No words were spoken after that as they both enjoyed the scenery around them.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Caitlyn parked her car in front of their house before getting out. Their doorman helped her in carrying the bazillion shopping bags she had in her car and she took a few in each hand. The doorman greeted her and she greeted back before running into the house hurriedly.

"I'm so late!" She mumbled to herself as the maid opened the door for her. Her father arrived home at the same time and looked at her struggling with the ten shopping bags she was holding in her hands.

"Sweetie… Did you bring the entire shopping mall to our house?" he asked sarcastically as the maid and doorman brought more bags into the house. Caitlyn smiled in embarrassment and hugged her father and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You could say so, daddy." She said and they both laughed. "Can you put all this in my room, please?" she asked their two maids and they nodded before taking the bags from her.

"Ian will pick you up, right?" Her father asked and she stopped on the third step of the stairs and turned to him.

"Yes, daddy." She turned once again to go up to her room.

"Let me take you instead, if you want."

"No, dad. Ian is already on his way anyway. He'll be here shortly." She said and her dad smiled.

"You're not ready, Cait…. Hurry up."

"OH!" She exclaimed as she looked at her clothes before running up to her room.

Her father shook his head before heading towards their living room and sitting down. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed someone's number.

"Hey, love." Ella answered as she stopped packing briefly.

"Did you leave your house, honey?" He said.

"I'll leave in an hour, love."

"I just arrived home…. You still don't want me to pick you up from the airport?"

"Yes… We were almost caught last time, remember? I can't risk that again, especially during these days."

"Okay… whatever you prefer, sweetheart."

"Is Caitlyn going to Miami today as well?"

"Yes, she leaving soon."

"Then we'll get to meet while I'm in the US." Ella said with a little smile.

"I can't wait… I'll leave you to finish getting ready now then. Goodbye, honey."

"Goodbye." With that they both hanged up.

"I have jeans, jean shorts, blouses, t-shirts, swimsuits…. Did I put my white sundress?" Caitlyn said before looking through one of her suitcases. "Here it is…. Oh the shoes I'll wear with it." She took a pair of black wedges and put them in her suitcase. She then was interrupted by her cellphone ringing and she smiled upon seeing the caller ID.

"Hey, Ian."

"Hey, Cait. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready…" she looked around her at her three still opened suitcases, "Consider me ready."

"Okay, baby. I'm almost there." He said before hanging up.

"He called me baby…" she said with a happy sigh before she remembered that he's almost here and hurriedly finished packing her perfumes and toiletries. Her father knocked on the door before getting into the room and looking at the suitcases.

"Cait… you're not ready yet?"

"I'm ready…"

"How long are you staying in Miami?" He asked as he pointed at her suitcases. They were medium sized but still. "Probably the entire summer from what I'm seeing."

"Why not?" She said with a grin as she thought about it. Her father shook his head with a smile and closed the door. She hurriedly went to her closet and took out a white off the shoulders blouse that went really well with the light washed jean shorts she was already wearing. She quickly slipped out of her blouse and put that one on. She slipped on a pair of white converse instead of the heels she had before.

She took her hair out of the bun it was in and adjusted it with her fingers, keeping her bangs to the side of her face and the rest of her hair dangling down her back. She fixed her already perfect makeup and reapplied her nude pink lipstick before heading down with one suitcase with her and asked the maid to get the other two for her.

Not even five minutes later, Ian arrived and they were off to the airport after he joked about the amount of luggage she brought for only two weeks.

* * *

The tractor's driver dropped Lucas and Riley off in a gas station on the main road and they thanked him after getting out of the truck. They then made their way into the supermarket that the gas station had.

"Hello…. Can I use your telephone, please?" Lucas asked the cashier.

"Of course…" the guy said and handed Lucas their telephone.

"Go get something for us to eat while I call my cousin so that he sends us a car. Choose whatever you like." Lucas said and Riley nodded before going to do what he asked. Lucas dialed Farkle's number and looked at Riley as he waited for Farkle to pick up. She was picking chocolates.

"Farkle." Lucas said when he picked up and Farkle got up from the table he was sitting at with the manager.

"Lucas? Is that you? Where have you been, dude? I've been calling you since this morning. And you took a customer's car and left. Are you out of your mind?" Farkle said angrily and Lucas looked at the cashier before whispering,

"What's the address?"

"The first gas station on the main road of the countryside."

"Please, send a car to the first gas station on the main road of Miami's country side and let them take me back to the hotel."

"What happened? Did you make an accident?"

"Yes, but it's not something major. We'll talk when I come back."

"Okay, I'll send a car right away." Farkle said and hanged up. "Offf, Lucas! You can't even go a day without trouble." He said as he went back to the table and called for the car to go get him.

"It's all solved now, they'll send someone to come take us." Lucas said as Riley dropped all the food she had in her hands on the counter. She had juices, cakes, chocolates, and chips.

"What about my stuff…?" Riley looked at him in concern.

"I'll take care of that too, don't worry." He said reassuringly. "Is that all you want?" he asked pointing at the food she got for her and him.

"Yes…" She said and the cashier started calculating. Lucas looked down at their clothes in disgust and huffed. As he looked back up, he noticed T-shirts behind the cashier's back.

"Can we take two of those as well?" He asked the guy.

"Yeah…"

"I want mine in Large…." He said before looking at Riley up and down with a smirk. "You also wear Large, don't you?"

"Very funny." She told him with a blank face and turned to the cashier. "Small, please." The guy nodded and handed them the two t-shirts and they both took them out of the plastic packaging. Lucas took his shirt off without caring that he's shirtless in a supermarket and Riley took off her denim vest, thankful for the white spaghetti strap tank top. They both slipped them on, not noticing for once what the shirts had on the back. For them, they were just simple white V-necks. Riley stuffed her vest in a plastic shopping bag from the supermarket and Lucas did the same with his shirt. Lucas paid for their stuff and they headed out to wait for the car. The car arrived a few minutes later and they both got in.

The car ride was fairly silent as they just ate what they had in silence and looked at the road around them.

About a half hour later, they arrived at the hotel and they got out of the car after thanking the driver.

"We're at the hotel, you can tell me now what you wanted to talk to me about." Riley said as she crossed her arms.

"I…" Lucas trailed off before sighing and spitting it out all at once, "I want you to be my cousin's girlfriend." Riley looked at him like he had two heads. "I mean… You'll act like you are his girlfriend."

"I don't get it… Why would I act like his girlfriend?" She asked in confusion.

"You know our pictures were taken when we were running out of the club last night. Today, we were the headlines of the news."

"WHAT?! HEADLINES!?" Riley exclaimed in disbelief, "What if my mother saw it? I'll be dead!"

"Don't worry, your face isn't that clear. You were hiding it with your arm, luckily."

"Thank god!" Riley breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, I told my girlfriend that the girl that was with me, aka you, is my cousin's girlfriend." Lucas explained. "She's coming to Miami today, so she wants to meet you. Today we'll be all together at a summer's welcoming party here at the hotel. What do you think?"

"What do I think? How about...No." Riley said as she crossed her arms once again.

"No?" Lucas asked as he took a step closer to her. "Are you saying no to this small favor after everything that has happened to me because of you?"

"I can't say that you brought me good luck either." Riley said as she copied his words from earlier.

"You're not allowed to use my words against me."

"Excuse me, I can't act like I'm someone's girlfriend. Go find yourself another girl." She said.

"How can I find another girl? I'm telling you she saw you!"

"Didn't you say that my face wasn't clear?!" Riley exclaimed with a stomp of her foot.

"It's not unclear enough for me to find any girl but you." He said with a huff. "Will you help me or not? I'll be overjoyed if you put in consideration the fact that you threw up on me while you're making your decision." Riley looked at him in disbelief.

"UGGGGHHH!" She exclaimed with a stomp of her foot once again and huffed. "Okay! But for one day! Just a day, Lucas." She pointed her pointer finger at him as she spoke and Lucas tried not to care about how good his name sounded when she said it, "Upon your first mis-"

"Okay." He cut her off knowing already what she'll say as a threat. "Don't worry. I won't do anything to upset you." He said softly with a smile and she sighed. He walked past her before stopping and looking at her up and down, making her follow his gaze as he did so. "We need to buy you something to wear for the party. Come with me."

Riley huffed before she headed into the hotel with him and he guided her towards one of the clothing stores that the hotel provided. As they walked together, people would often point at them with a smile and neither of them knew why.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The sales assistant said once they'd entered the store.

"Find her something pretty and chic to wear at tonight's party. I wonder if you can even help her." Lucas told the lady, mumbling the last part so that only Riley heard him. He took out his mother's credit card and handed it to the assistant who nodded before disappearing. "If you want, you can pick a few outfits for your daily life as well." He said as they turned and went to the racks of clothes in front of them. Lucas looked at the button ups while Riley was next to him looking at the dresses and blouses.

"Are you on your honeymoon?" The sales assistant asked while a smile as she saw their backs. They both turned to her and looked at her like she had two heads. She pointed at their t-shirts, "Your t-shirts are really pretty."

Riley and Lucas looked at their plane white t-shirts in confusion.

"How so?" They both asked and the lady pointed at her back. They looked at their backs through the mirror and finally understood all the pointing and smiling. Lucas' shirt had a little boy, drawn with lines, running with a big red heart balloon in his hands. The boy was running towards the other side of the shirt and the letters 'L-O' were written in cursive writing. Riley's had a little girl with a red heart balloon as well, running towards the other side of the shirt, as in, running towards the boy. She had the letters 'V-E' written on hers to complete the word 'L-O-V-E'.

If you still didn't get it, they were wearing couple t-shirts.

They both looked at each other before hurriedly taking them off, with Lucas once again not caring that he's shirtless in the middle of a store. The sales lady laughed before picking a few dresses for Riley and going to the fitting rooms with her. Lucas tried on a navy blue button up and white pants, then decided to keep them on when he liked the way they looked on him.

Riley later came out with a knee length purple dress that hugged her figure and had lace detailing towards the top. She struggled with walking with her heels and the tightness of the dress and Lucas shook his head. She then tried on a yellow V-neck, sleeveless crop top along with a pair of aqua blue shorts and he nodded, saying that she could take it. She then tried a floor length mint dress and then a floor length tropical dress which Lucas shook his head to both. She tried another two dresses that she didn't like so decided not to show them to Lucas. She also decided not to show him the dress that she decided on.

She put the pair of blue shorts and yellow crop top back on and they headed out after buying what they chose. He also got her a clutch and a pair of heeled sandals that she was not excited about wearing. He took her to the reception and got her a double room for her and her friend before they headed up towards it. She looked at the room in amazement and he smirked.

"You didn't forget our deal, did you?" Lucas asked as he watched her put the two shopping bags on one of the beds.

"Don't worry." She said with a sigh as she turned to him.

"Don't get out of the room. I'll call you and tell you the program for tonight." He told her before handing her the room key and she nodded. With that, he left the room closing the door after himself.

"Now I need to convince Farkle." Lucas said as he made his way towards the beach where he knew that Farkle would be running.

Farkle stopped running when he spotted a couple making out in the ocean. It brought back memories of last summer when he and Miley went to vacation together and would always make out in the ocean. He stood there for a few minutes before shaking his head and continued running.

Riley decided that she should call Maya before taking her shower so she called her. Maya was getting ready in her room when her phone rang

"Maya." Riley said into the phone with a smile.

"Riley? Is that you?"

"Guess where I am right now." After a few failed guesses, Riley told her the room's number and Maya told her that she'll be up in half an hour so Riley decided to take a shower until then.

Lucas finally found Farkle who was making his way out of the water and he approached him.

"Where have you been, cousin? Where did you disappear?" Farkle asked.

"Don't ask." Lucas said with an exasperated sigh. "I've been looking for a girlfriend for you since this morning. There isn't a thing that hasn't happened to me yet."

"What girlfriend are you talking about?" Farkle asked as he stopped drying himself and looked at Lucas.

"Kayli is coming to Miami."

"I know. She called me a few hours ago asking about why you weren't answering your phone and I told her that you had a small accident and your phone must've went out of charge. She surely saw the news and that's why she's coming, right?"

"Yes. She's insisting on seeing the girl as well."

"What girl?"

"Your girlfriend."

"What are you not telling me, Lucas?" Farkle asked confused.

"When I told Kayli that the girl beside me is your girlfriend, she said that she'll meet her when she comes. Which means, she's coming today to meet your girlfriend."

"What girlfriend are you talking about, Lucas? I told you over and over again not to put me in the middle of your games."

"What will happen if you cover for me?" Farkle looked at him angrily before slipping his shirt on.

"I can't."

"What will happen? We'll just spend our time at the party together."

"Did you ask me when you came up with that lie?"

"How would I know that Kayli will decide to come and meet her? If I knew so, I wouldn't have lied and said that she's your girlfriend. It was hard for me to convince the girl, don't make it hard on me too, cousin."

"I can't pretend that I'm someone's boyfriend. I can't do that with any girl, Lucas. Especially if it's a girl that I don't know, that's impossible."

"You'll get to know each other. You'll LOVE her once you see her. She's really nice and very smart." Lucas said and Farkle laughed.

"But that wasn't what you said about her this morning." And with that Lucas sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine. She's a complete pain in the butt. What can I do though? My mother is about to be against me as well. If Kayli comes and doesn't meet the girl, hell will take place. C'mon, cousin. Please."

"I'm sick of you, cousin." Farkle said as he looked at the ocean.

"That means that you're in, right?" Lucas asked with a hopeful smile.

"Fine." Farkle said with a sigh and hey pumped fisted.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Riley finished her shower and decided to put her shorts and crop top back after putting on a new pair of panties and bra. She towel dried her hair and a knock was heard on her door. She went to open it and saw Maya standing there with her hair curled beautifully and with light pink dress on along with black pumps and a black bag. Maya looked at her in surprise and hugged her tightly.

"I still can't believe that you're here, Riles." Maya said before she made her way further into the room and looked around.

"Are you gonna stay here?" she asked Riley who smiled excitedly.

"WE will." She said in excitement. They sat down on the bed. Riley had already told her everything on the phone.

"What if the guy you're pretending to be his girlfriend is really handsome?" Maya asked and Riley looked at her in annoyance. "Then you fall in love with each other. Just like in movies."

"Where can I get this luck, peaches?" Riley said sarcastically. "He's Lucas' cousin after all. His cousin will probably be just like him. He's probably arrogant and a player like Lucas."

"Okay. Just don't start the pessimistic thoughts from now. Besides, Lucas is attractive. If his cousin is just like him, then he'll be hot as well."

"Who said that Lucas is attractive or hot?" Riley asked with a disgusted face and Maya looked at her shocked.

"You don't think that he's hot AND attractive?"

"Well, yes, he's good looking and his eyes are a really pretty shade of green, but that's about it. He's good looking but not attractive nor hot." Maya shook her head at her friend.

"Whatever, let's get you ready. Where are the stuff that you bought?" Riley pointed at the bags on the bed. Riley took out the pretty off-white dress from the bag as well as mint clutch that had gold and silver specks on it and the mint blue strappy stilettos that had a gold cuff around the ankle strap. The mint shoes and clutch are to match her accessories. A knock was heard on the door so Riley went to get, hair still wet and dangling on her back.

"Hello, Miss Riley. I'm the hotel's hair dresser. Mr. Lucas sent me to take care of you." A middle aged man said and Riley invited him in along with the lady that was with him.

Riley looked at Maya excitedly before sitting down on a chair that they put for her. The man started blow drying her hair first then started curling her hair. The girl, which Riley assumed is the makeup artist, started on her makeup.

* * *

Caitlyn looked around the hotel, amazed by its elegance then looked at Ian.

"Can we take a picture?" she asked him and he nodded. She took out her iPhone 6s and they both smiled as she took a selfie then took another one for her snapchat. She then called her brother.

"Hey, brother." She greeted with a smile, "We just arrived at the hotel… Yeah… Okay we'll wait for you there." Caitlyn hanged up and turned to Ian, "He told me that he'll meet us on the hotel's balcony café on the first floor." With that, they took the elevator and went to the place.

They stood together as they looked at the view of the view of the pool and the ocean. Well, more like, as Ian looked at the view and Caitlyn looked at him

"This is pretty. The view is really nice…." Ian said.

"Yeah… That's what I think so too. It's really pretty." She said not even taking her eyes off of him then he looked at her and smiled.

"Let's order something." He said and they both sat down at the table. The waiter came and Cait order mango juice as Ian order sprite.

"It's a good thing that you convinced my brother to let me come as well."

"It was a good thing for me too. The trip with you was really fun." Caitlyn grinned as she blushed slightly.

"Thank you." Caitlyn said and their waiter arrived with their orders then after that, Farkle and Lucas finally arrived. They greeted each other and Farkle took a seat beside his sister while Lucas sat beside Ian.

"How was your trip?" Lucas asked.

"It was good." Caitlyn asked and took a sip from her juice through the wide straw.

"I hope you didn't bore Ian with your rambling." Lucas teased and Caitlyn glared at him and looked away.

"Okay, I'm joking, little cousin. Don't get upset so fast." Lucas said with a chuckle.

"You don't look like you're working at all, Luke." Caitlyn said with a little smirk and he grinned at her. "You look like you're on vacation and there's a party tonight." Farkle chuckled at her words as well.

"No, honey. We worked the entire day, we were busy." Lucas said.

"Yeah, of course Lucas was _so_ busy today. He even gave extra attention to the party since Kayli is coming." Farkle said sarcastically but only Lucas knew that he was sarcastic.

"Where's Kayli?" Caitlyn asked.

"She'll probably be here in a little bit. Her flight will land in a few minutes." Lucas said before he sat up in his seat and clapped his hands. "There's something we need to tell you. So that it doesn't surprise you at the party." Farkle closed his eyes and grimaced knowing what was coming. "Your brother has a girlfriend now." Lucas said as he looked at Caitlyn who also sat up in her seat.

"It's not Miley, is it?" Was the first thing that came out of his sister's mouth. Farkle gave her a look, "I mean… I'm sorry but when he said it so suddenly." She said as she turned in her seat towards her brother. "But I'm really happy… Did you meet her here?"

"Yes, we met here. I'll introduce her to you tonight." Farkle said.

"I'm really happy for you, man." Ian said with a smile and Farkle thanked him.

"I'm really curious now. What is she like? What does she look like?" Caitlyn asked and Lucas grinned at her excitement.

"You'll see for yourself soon." Farkle said. "Shall we get up?" Lucas and Ian nodded.

"Yeah… I need to get ready for the party anyway." Caitlyn said and with that they all got up. Farkle waited until her and Ian were out of earshot before glaring at a smirking Lucas.

"I'm even lying to my sister because of you, Lucas." Lucas patted his back as his smirk grew into a grin.

"C'mon, let's get ready so that I could introduce to your girlfriend." With that, they both went to their rooms. Half an hour later, Lucas made his way to Farkle's room in the same pair of white pants, a pair of black vans and a mint button up. Farkle was in a white button up and a pair of marron red pants and black shoes. They then made their way up to Riley's room.

"Let me introduce you to your girlfriend." Lucas said as they neared her room.

"Look at what you did to me." Farkle grumbled and Lucas chuckled. He stopped in front of a door so Farkle did the same as he watched Lucas knock on the door. They were both looking at the ground waiting for Riley to open the door.

Riley opened the door with confidence and leaned against it with her side then her eyes went straight to Lucas as he raised his eyes taking every single thing about her look in. He looked at her mint blue heels and went up with his eyes secretly admiring her long tanned legs until he finally reached her dress. It was a simple off-white dress that reached a little bit past her mid-thigh. It had a deep V-neck that extenuated her breasts and made them look really good. It also had very simple detailing with rhinestones and sequins in gold and silver that went to her waist. The V-neck was lined with what looked like an opened zipper. He wasn't looking at her sexually, but simply admiring her. **(AN; Her dress is McKaley Miller's dress at the teen choice awards 2014)**

On her fingers, she had mint blue nail polish on along with a silver ring that had a huge mint blue gem and the matching necklace and earrings.

When he thought he wouldn't think that she's any prettier, he reached her face. Her chocolate brown eyes were framed by the smokey eyeshadow she had and the winged liner. Because of the smokey eye, the makeup artist gave her a simple nude pink lips and a nicely bronzed and highlighted face. He hair was curled to perfection and framing her face.

She locked eyes with a shocked Lucas briefly before her eyes went to the man who stood beside him and it was her turn to look shocked.

Unlike Lucas, Farkle eyes went straight to her face, because he simply wanted to know who she is and didn't really care about anything else. Upon seeing her, a shocked look took place on his face.

To Riley, she was shocked that the man she'll pretend to be his girlfriend is Farkle, the one she wants to be his girlfriend for real.

As for Lucas, no matter what he told himself, he couldn't look away. He was shocked at how gorgeous she looked. At how perfect she looked. He looked at her for a few more minutes as she looked at Farkle, with a shocked expression on her face.

 _You can't think like that… you hate her._ His brain told him but he disagreed.

He doesn't hate her anymore. He quit hating her this morning after he stopped her from leaving. He doesn't hate her but she's not his favorite person in the world.

And….

Even if he did hate her, he would still think that she looked gorgeous right now.

Hating her wouldn't stop him from doing that.

* * *

 **Another LOOOOOOOONG chapter. Again, I feel like this is boringly long and that it had many things happening in it but I didn't want to keep you waiting for that last scene for another chapter. This legit took me 3 nights to write it.**

 **I posted the link to Riley's dress on my account but I think it would be much easier if you just search '** **McKaley Miller's teen choice awards 2014'. I do recommend seeing the dress so that you have a visual idea as well because this dress is staying with us either for the entire next chapter or for a couple of chapter. I know I used a lot of mint blue stuff in this chapter but I love this color and I think it looks pretty. I always search the colors that I choose for the characters to wear and this was the prettiest color I found in shoes and accessories for Riley. Same with every time I use aqua blue** **.**

 **Since it's really long, I didn't really re-read it so I'm so sorry for any typos or grammatical mistakes.**

 **For my Rucas lovers, I hope you were satisfied and happy with this chapter and let me tell you that you'll be satisfied for the next couple of chapters.**

 **As for the thing I told you about in chapter 6 that I added in almost every Rucas encounter, It's the whole 'If they didn't hate each other, they would...'. Like Daghely said in her review, they find each other attractive then cancel the idea as they remember that they hate each other. Which is why I made Lucas ignore his mind here.**

 **Like always, I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review and tell me your thoughts. Also tell me what you think will happen next and what you'd like to see next chapter.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx.**


	9. Chapter 9: Pretty brunette?

_How come she's this pretty? How is this the Riley that has been making my life a disaster since I met her? Just how..? I don't even think that they're the same person. Wait why am I giving it this much thought? So what if she looks drop dead gorgeous in that dress that extenuates what needs to be extenuated? Well at least she looks good for Farkle's sake. Yeah that's why I'm giving it too much thought._

Lucas thought to himself as he looked at her, noticing her smokey eyes getting wide with surprise as she looked at his cousin. He couldn't stop his eyes from running over her body a few more times.

To them and to you reading this, it seems like they've been standing like this for hours but in reality, barely five minutes have passed. Lucas took a deep breath as he adverted his eyes back to her face.

"How pretty... I was afraid that you won't be able to get yourself looking decent." He said trying to go back to his normal teasing self. Riley looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face before she seemingly woke up from the surprise and glared at him. "Let me introduce you to my cousin." He pointed at Farkle with a smirk, "Farkle, this is Riley…."

"We know each other anyways…" Farkle said with a smile and Lucas' head turned to him in surprise while Riley's glare softened into a shy smile. "How are you, Riley?"

"I'm okay… Thank you." Riley said softly adverting her eyes to the ground.

"You know each other?" Lucas asked pointing at the two in confusion.

"Yeah…" Farkle looked at him briefly before looking back at Riley. "Riley worked at a bakery shop in LA near my house that I always went to." Riley smiled at his words, happy that he fully remembers her.

"Really? What a coincidence!" Lucas said with a grin as he looked between the two before looking at Riley with a smirk, "You went from the bottom and now look where you are." At that, Riley glared at him.

"Thanks to you." She said with a sarcastic smile.

"Okay… Let's head to the party then." Lucas said with a sigh and Farkle nodded.

"I'll just get my bag really quickly." Riley said and went back inside her room after the two guys nodded. She walked steadily until she was out of their eyesight then ran the rest of the way towards the bed where Maya was sitting, texting. "It's like I'm in a dream!" She whisper-yelled as she pulled Maya into a standing position.

"Hurry and spill! What happened? Is his cousin really attractive and hot like I told you?" Maya exclaimed in a whisper as well. "I couldn't look because I didn't want them to see me."

"He's really attractive and hot, Maya. Lucas' cousin is Farkle, Maya! MY Farkle!" Riley exclaimed.

"WHAT!" Maya exclaimed in a whisper. "I can't believe this!"

"Be quiet, they'll hear you."

"If this is not a sign from god then I don't know what is, Riles. You're officially a couple now!" At that, a sad look took place on Riley's face.

"Yeah… We're a fake couple for just one night."

"Enough! Don't start being pessimistic again. Just use the chance that god gave you and don't make me go crazy."

"Okay." Riley said with a sigh. "I made them wait for long enough, though. Good luck with Josh as well. He's a good guy, Peaches." Riley said hurriedly before giving her a kiss on the cheek and hurriedly retrieving her clutch from the bed. She waved goodbye before standing straight and making her way out calmly and slowly towards the guys, closing the door after herself. She looked at Lucas with a frown before turning her head to the guy beside him as a small smile took place on her face.

"I'm sorry that I made you wait." Riley said in a soft voice that Lucas couldn't help but smirk at. He really couldn't believe that this was the girl who was ready to kill him a few hours ago and now she was like an angel. Literally.

"It's okay." Farkle said with a small polite smile as well. They started heading towards the elevators with Riley in between the two boys. Farkle's phone started ringing and he answered it. "Hello."

"Mr. Farkle, Mr. Lucas took a client's car and left with it. Now the client is in my office and he's furious." The hotel's manager said over the phone as he looked at the person sitting on the chair by his desk. Farkle looked at Lucas in annoyance but he was looking the other way. "Did you know about this?"

"I'll be right there." Farkle said before hanging up and looking back at the clueless Lucas. "The car's owner is at the manager's office, right now. What am I gonna tell him, huh?"

"Don't let him overreact, we'll pay for the damage done no matter how much it costs." Lucas said simply.

"Is that it?" Farkle said in an angry tone. "We're obligated to do that anyway."

"What else could we possible do?" Lucas asked and Riley just walked silently between them, her eyes going back and forth between the two.

"Who am I even asking? I'm sick of fixing things after you, cousin." Lucas turned to him with a frustrated expression. He didn't quite know why but he felt frustrated that he was talking to him like that in front of Riley.

"Okay, cousin. Don't make this a big deal, alright?" Lucas said in frustration and Farkle huffed.

"Anyway, you guys go ahead and go to the party. I'll meet you there." Farkle said as he moved a few steps ahead from them.

"Okay, don't take too long." Lucas said after him and Farkle waved without turning. He waited until Farkle was into the elevator before looking at Riley. "This is all because of you. If you hadn't crashed the car, we wouldn't be in trouble."

"I don't think this is the right time for you to bother with upsetting me, you know?" Riley said with a smile.

"Is this a threat?" Lucas asked, looking at her with wide eyes. "You're going to threaten me tomorrow or after tomorrow as well?"

"Well, you can change your mind at any minute. We're still near my room." Riley suggested. Lucas just looked at her as they kept walking. They didn't even walk three steps when Riley twisted her ankle slightly and almost fell, if it wasn't for Lucas' hand that caught her by the arm and steadied her. Luckily she didn't hurt her ankle as well.

"Look in front of you instead of talking back to me." Lucas said sarcastically with a smirk and Riley yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"I'm not used to this kind of shoes, I always wear pumps or wedges. That's probably why." Riley said with a glare and Lucas sighed, annoyed.

"Let's just get this night over with." He said.

"Yeah. For the first time I actually agree with you." Riley stated.

"Don't talk and look in front of you. C'mon." Lucas said as they started moving once again.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Waiting by the hotel's entrance was josh, in a more casual and a lot less formal attire. He was wearing a simple dark blue button up which he left unbuttoned with a white V-neck underneath along with some jeans. He was leaning against his black car. He kept trying to make himself lean onto it more casually, but really he was just nervous which made him fidgety. He spotted Maya coming out of the hotel and felt breathless for a few seconds. She looked great. She had some of her hair twisted and pulled back with a few strands framing her face. **(AN; Maya's hairstyle in the campfire scene).**

"I made you wait for quite some time, didn't I?" Maya said with an apologetic smile. Josh opened his mouth before closing it once more and giving a very small shake of his head. He was amazed by how beautiful she looked. Maya frowned her eyebrows in confusion as she tilted her head up slightly to look at him better. _Why was he staring at me like that_? Maya thought to herself.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Maya asked in confusion and josh finally moved his eyes from her.

"No… um… You look beautiful… Really beautiful." Josh said with a nervous smile as he shifted his weight from his right leg to his left one, back and forth. Maya smiled shyly and looked at the ground.

"Really?" She asked and Josh nodded. "Thank you." They stood there for a few seconds in some sort of awkward atmosphere mainly because of Josh's nervousness. "Shall we go?" Maya asked growing impatient.

"Yeah, we can do that… C'mon." Josh said as he led her to the passenger side, opening the door for her.

"Wow! You're so nice." Maya said teasingly, "I like it." She said and gave a wink before getting into the car, not missing the smile on Josh's face. He closed her door and went to the driver's seat and got in before driving off after they'd both fastened their seatbelts. They were gonna spend some time in town then head back to the hotel for tonight's party.

You may ask why our three main characters were heading to the party at four thirty in the afternoon when the party won't start until seven, well since Farkle is one of the managers as well as Lucas, they had to be there at the before-party. If that makes any sense.

Anyway, arriving after Maya and Josh's was a really well built guy that looked like those giant bodyguard we see in Movies. He arrived in a black Range rover and then headed into the hotel with his bodyguard and driver in toe.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"What do you mean by 'your car had a small accident'? What kind of joke is this?" The client said raising his voice at Farkle.

"Will you calm down please, sir?" Farkle said calmly.

"I've never seen or heard of anything like this ever happening before. What's gonna happen now?" The client said ignoring Farkle's words.

"Don't worry, your car will be back to it's original state as fast as possible. On top of that, you and your family won't pay any taxes during your stay here, it's on us. You'll be our guests. We'll be happy if you accept our offer as a form of apology." Farkle said and he could sense that the man was almost convinced. The man looked at the manager who shrugged as in to tell him 'if I were you, I'd accept.'

"Okay then." The man said.

"I'm glad we were able to sort this out with you, sir." Farkle said standing up and reaching his hand out and the man stood up and shook his hand.

"Me too, have a nice day." The man said.

"Have a nice day, sir." The manager said and the man left his office. "You solved this in a really good way, Mr. Farkle."

"When a man has a cousin like Lucas, learning how to deal with these sort of things is a must for him." Farkle said with a smile. "Anyways, if there isn't anything else then I'll head to the party now."

"Have a nice time, sir." The manager said and Farkle nodded before making his way out of the office.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Lucas and Riley made their way into the party together. To anyone, they looked like a couple, especially with how color coordinated their clothes are with each other. The waitress met them halfway and led them towards an empty table. Riley's hair was flying because of the wind as she looked at sea and sky in front of her as she walked. She also like the way the green of the trees that covered the mountains met with dark blue-greenish color of the sea then with the light blue color of the sky. Beautiful.

"Would you like to order anything?" The waitress, which was wearing a white skater skirt with a pink tank top tucked into it, asked.

"I don't want anything, now. Wait until everyone arrives and then we will order." Lucas said.

"And you, Miss?"

"Sprite, please." Riley answered her with a smile and the girl nodded before leaving.

"That's what I think as well. The best thing for you is sprite." Lucas said teasingly.

"It would be good if you don't bother me." Riley said with a scowl on her face.

"What did I say now? You get mad because of everything. Thinking about you is a sin anyways."

"I'm pretty sure that's how it is. Please God, get this night over with as fast as possible so that I could get rid of you quickly." Riley said as she looked at the sky in a pray and Lucas chuckled.

"That's my opinion as well." Lucas said and gave her a smile. He looked at the people around them. There was a lot of pretty girls but for some reason, he thought that Riley was the prettiest. Coincidently, she was the only brunette as well. All the other girls were either blondes, redheads, or had some other hair color other than brown. _Pretty brunette…. Hmmm that suits her right now since she looks pretty and she's the only brunette here until now._ Lucas thought to himself.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Caitlyn stood in front of the full length mirror in her room as she fixed her skirt. She took a mirror selfie for her snapchat as well as a few other normal selfies for snapchat as well.

She was wearing a navy blue two-piece dress that consisted of a long sleeved crop top. It had a strapless crop top shirt attached to it from underneath for coverage since the entire thing was lace and the lace had jewels decorating it. The skirt was a floral flared skirt that if it wasn't for the flare, it would've been a normal skater skirt. The skirt had a variety of dark pink and light pink roses so she wore a pair of pink pumps that had a bow on the front of the ankle strap.

Her hair was curled and she teased the crown of her head before securing it with a few poppy pins and grapping some hair from each side and pinning it to the back of her head in a half up do with a few strands framing her face beautifully. She kept her makeup simple with a smokey eye and pink lips. For accessories, she wore her favorite rings and a pair of earrings that had a pink flower dangling from them. Her phone rang and she went to answer it, having put it on her vanity after taking the pictures.

"Where are you now, girl?" Sofia asked right when she answered the phone.

"I'm at the hotel, Sof." Caitlyn told her with a smile.

"I'm dying out of curiosity, Cait. Tell me, how is it going so far?"

"It's going amazing, Sofia." Caitlyn said with a smile that could literally be heard through her voice. She leaned on the high TV table, not wanting to wrinkle her skirt by sitting down. "Look, I'll tell you everything face to face when I come back, okay? With every detail, move, facial expressions… everything!"

"Crazy girl." Sofia said with a laugh. "Look, your brother will be around you all the time. Don't let anyone understand what's going on, okay?"

"Who will understand anyways?"

"Are you the one saying that? You probably stared at Ian for at least ten minutes without even blinking. A few times as well."

"What can I do? My bae is so handsome. Can you believe that we only have a wall separating us right now?" Caitlyn said excitedly. "I can feel it, Sof. I'm getting closer to him as time passes."

"How's your brother's girlfriend? Did you see her?"

"Nope, I'm meeting her at the party. I'm really curious about her, in all honesty. Hopefully, she's not some rude bitch." Caitlyn said and suddenly someone knocked on her door making her stand straight. "I have to go. Ian is probably here to take me!" She exclaimed in a whisper. "Ahh… I'm so nervous… I can feel it. Something will happen tonight…. I'll hang up now… Goodbye." She said before handing up and hurriedly taking her pink clutch and heading to the door, but not before spraying more perfume and stopping to check her look once more in the mirror before finally opening the door.

"Oh, it's you, brother." She said the smile dropping from her face as Farkle looked at her in confusion.

"Who else were you expecting?"

"No one." She answered with a shake of her head.

"I called you several times but your phone was busy." He said pointing at her phone which was clutched in her hand with her clutch. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." She said with a smile before taking her room keycard and exiting the room, shutting the door behind herself. She opened her clutch as they walked and stuck her phone and keycard inside it.

* * *

Riley sipped on her soda as she enjoyed the nice weather and nice music that was playing. She looked around them noticing how dressed up everyone was. When she finished getting dressed, she felt like she'd be over-dressed for a beach party but looking at the girls around her, she was definitely not over-dressed. She looked at the entrance hoping to spot Farkle coming back or even Maya and Josh but all she saw was three really well built men that looked like body guards. One of them looked really familiar though. She tried to remember where she'd seen him before when flashes of the last night's club fight came to her mind and she frowned in panic.

"He's here!" She exclaimed as she grabbed Lucas' arm, startling him.

"Who's here?"

"The guy that you fought with at the bar!"

"What?!" Lucas looked around in panic. "Where?!" He looked at the entrance and spotted the guy, but unfortunately, so did the guy who instantly scowled in anger upon realizing who he was.

"Shit! He saw us! They're coming towards us, Lucas!" Riley exclaimed in panic tugging on his arm. "What are we gonna do?!"

"We'll run, of course. My dad will kill me without a doubt if another problem happens here. That is if this guy doesn't do it first." Lucas said hurriedly, and grabbed Riley's clutch and took hold of the hand that was wrapped around his arm before running. They ran towards where a boat was parked in case of emergencies and Lucas made his way down the ladder that lead to the ocean and jumped into the boat before helping Riley into the boat as well. He started the engine and the boat was off into the ocean, and far from the Hotel.

When they were a safe distance away, he took his phone out of pocket and dialed Farkle's number.

"Are you calling the police?"

"No. I don't have any intentions in being tomorrow's main talk in the newspapers."

"If you don't call the police, you will be! Didn't you see the guy? He looked at us like he was ready to kill us!" Riley exclaimed and Lucas didn't answer her.

"Answer the damn phone, Farkle!" Lucas said hitting the stirring wheel in frustration. He tried calling Ian this time. "Ian isn't answering too. Fuck!"

"I told you to call the fucking police! We're wasting our time! They'll probably come after us now!"

"I can't call them! My dad will know about it in the same instance if I did!" Lucas explained.

"I will do then." Riley said and tried grapping his phone off of his ears. The water had made her hand slippery and when she touched the leather of his phone case, it slid right off her hand and into the floor of the boat, which was filled with water because of how fast they were going. Riley gasped and her hand covered her mouth in shock as Lucas looked from his phone to her with his mouth a gap.

"I can't believe this!" He exclaimed and Riley reached down and grabbed his phone. "Good fucking job! That was just what we needed!" Riley tried to open it but it was lifeless.

"That didn't happen on purpose…" She trailed off guiltily and Lucas glared at her before going back to driving the boat. He hit the wheel a few times in anger.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Farkle, Caitlyn and Ian made their way into the party, the three of them looking around at Lucas. Ian looked down at his phone to check the time.

"Lucas called me…" He announced to Farkle with a frown. Farkle took his phone out as well and unlocked it.

"He called me as well." Farkle said. "I'll call him back." Farkle said as they made their way to a table. "He's not answering."

"Brother, when is your girlfriend coming? I'm dying to meet her." Caitlyn said looking up at her brother.

"If only I knew… I'll go look around for her as well as Lucas." Farkle said and left them alone. Caitlyn looked at Ian, deciding that this was her chance.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked with a smile and he looked at her before giving a nod with a smile. He took her hand and led her away from their table and they started dancing to the song that was playing and Caitlyn couldn't contain her smile. Ian smiled back at her. He really loved making her happy.

"Shall we go back to the table now?" Ian asked after dancing with her for a while.

"You can't possibly be tired already." Caitlyn said teasingly as her body moved with the music.

"Of course, I'm not as youthful as you are." At that Caitlyn stopped dancing and scowled.

"What does this have to do with anything? Besides, how big is the age difference between us?" Ian pinched her cheeks playfully.

"C'mon, C'mon." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her to the table.

"Hey, Ian! Long time no see." A girl with beautiful blonde hair and a very short dress said as she gave him a hug.

"Yeah, we haven't seen you since we took out summer vacation. How are you?" Another one said as she hugged him as well.

"I'm good. I've been busy with the Café and such." Ian said with a smile and a scowl took place on Caitlyn's face. "Oh, let me introduce you. This Caitlyn… You know Farkle?" He said to the blonde.

"Yeah."

"She's his younger sister." Ian said with a smile.

"Hello, nice to meet you, I'm Meghan." The blonde said with a smile and Caitlyn gave her a tight smile while shaking her hand.

"I'm Melanie." The other one said with a smile as well and Caitlyn shook her hand.

"Well, enjoy your time and we'll-" Meghan said but Ian cut her off.

"Join us if you want." Caitlyn glared at him at that.

"That would be great." They joined them and Caitlyn scowled even more as she looked down at the table. Ian turned towards the girls even more, giving them his full attention now. Caitlyn fidget with her hands and clutch as she glared daggers at his back. He kept chatting with the two girls and laughing with them that she couldn't help but feel jealous.

"I have to do something… what do I do?" Caitlyn whispered to herself as she thought about it. She pretended to be dancing to the music before wincing in pain as she clutched her leg and fell to the floor and Ian kneeled down beside her. "Ahhh!" She whimpered in fake pain.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Ian asked concerned.

"My ankle hurts really badly. I think I twisted it." She said with a pained expression on her face.

"How did that happen?" He asked as he checked her ankle making her whimper in pain once again.

"I don't know. It just hurts."

"Are you okay, Caitlyn?" Meghan asked and Caitlyn glanced up at her before looking back at her ankle.

"Let's put ice on it, shall we?" Ian suggested.

"We shall, but… Can we go somewhere quieter?" Caitlyn asked softly.

"Of course." He stood up before helping her up slowly.

"I can't press on it…"

"Don't then." He said as he carried her bridal style and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He took her towards the tented seats near the pool, far away from the beach and the party.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Welcome to the Aquamarine hotel, Miss." The porter greeted Kayli as she made her way out of the car. She gave him a smile and a nod before heading into the hotel. She sat down in the café in the lobby and called Lucas, who once again didn't answer.

"Oh Lucas…. Where did you disappear to again?" She said to herself before trying once again. Farkle saw her a smiled slightly.

"Kayli." He said once he was right behind her. She turned to him, with her phone still on her ear. She hanged up and stood up with a relieved smile.

"I was about to call you." She said as she hugged him.

"Welcome to Miami." He said.

"I don't find any sort of welcoming here, Farkle." She said when she pulled away. "Where is Lucas?"

"I was looking for him too. He's probably somewhere around here. He'll show up soon." Farkle said with a smile to hide his nerves. To be honest, Kayli scared him. Not all the time, only when she had a stern look on her face with her arms crossed…. Like right now.

"He knows that I'm coming."

"Well, let me get you your room keycard and you go settle yourself while I look for him, okay?" He said and she nodded with a sigh. When she sat back down, her phone started ringing.

"Hey, mom."

"Where are you now, Kayli?" Her mother said as Minkus looked at her.

"At the hotel."

"Did you arrive comfortably?"

"It was okay."

"Did you meet each other?" Ella asked, sensing that something was off with Kayli's short answers.

"No. He's not around, again. He's probably doing something but…" She trailed off as she saw Farkle coming back towards her. "Anyways, how are you? Did you arrive at LA?"

"I'm on my way to Cathy's, honey." Ella said as she looked at Minkus who gave her a smile.

"Okay, mom. Let me settle into my room and we'll talk again. Don't worry about me." They said their goodbyes and when she hanged up, she stood up as Farkle reached her. He led her to the elevator with the porter after them with her bag. She went up to her room and started getting ready right away since she wasn't tired.

She started on her makeup and after doing the basics, she proceeded in doing a smokey eye to make her blue eyes pop. She applied mascara then did her eyebrows before bronzing and highlighting her face. She added a beautiful pink lipstick to her lips and she was done. For her hair, she curled it, having had it straight the whole day. She curled it before pulled it all in a fancy-messy up do with a few pieces of her caramel brown hair framing her face. She had brown hair with caramel and blonde balayage. **(AN; You know Meghan Reinks the youtuber? Her hair color before she'd cut it.)**

After finishing her makeup and hair, she slipped into her bright neon yellow dress. It was a tight dress so it hung on her body nicely. She paired it with a pair of black pumps and a black clutch. She wore a silver statement necklace and a pair of simple silver earrings.

She took her phone and tried calling Lucas again.

"I can't reach him until now." She said worriedly before taking her clutch and room keycard and heading out of the room.

"Can you find me the phone number for the girl that works at the pool bar? Riley?" Farkle asked a receptionist.

"Okay, Mr. Farkle." She said before searching for it on her computer.

"Mr. Lucas hasn't called, has he?" Farkle asked the other receptionist.

"No he didn't, Mr. Farkle. I'll ask the others."

"Okay, I'm waiting." He said before looking around as he waited. "It's not normal for him to disappear like that." He mumbled to himself.

"Mr. Farkle, this is Riley's phone number." The girl said as she handed him a piece of paper. He took it and thanked her before dialing the number and going straight to voicemail with even a single ring.

"She can't be reached either. Where the hell are they?!" Farkle said loudly then noticed that those people don't know.

"There's no one that Mr. Lucas has talked to or called." The other receptionist said.

"Okay then. Form a team and make them search for him all around the hotel, right away." Farkle said and the guy nodded before hurriedly going to do as asked.

Kayli spotted Farkle and made her way towards him with a worried expression on her face.

"Farkle… Haven't you heard anything from him, yet?" She asked and Farkle turned to her and shook his head. "Farkle… You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

"Kayli… what could I possibly hide from you?" Kayli looked at him worriedly as he thought about the situation.

Where the hell are they?

* * *

Lucas kept driving the boat in the ocean, not knowing where they were heading or where they are. They were definitely a safe distance away from land. All of a sudden, the engine started making weird sounds and slowed down to a stop in the water. Lucas and Riley looked at it in confusion. Lucas tried to turn it on once again and failed.

"What happened? Why did we stop?" Riley asked him.

"Fuck!" Lucas exclaimed with a huff.

"What happened?!" Riley pressed.

"We ran out of fuel."

"WHAT?!" Riley exclaimed. "What are we gonna do now? Are we stuck here?"

"Yes. We're stuck. You're such a misfortune bringer." He snapped at her as he looked at her.

"Why do I have to be the misfortune bringer? You're the one who brings bad luck." Riley snapped back as she ran a hand in her hair in frustration.

"If only my phone hadn't fell into the water because of YOU, we would've called for help now." He said calmly. "So in my opinion, don't talk too much." Riley looked at him guiltily.

"Okay…" She said and Lucas sighed as he looked around them.

"We can't wait here."

"What else are we gonna do then?" Lucas spotted a ship not so far from them and pointed at it.

"We'll swim to that ship."

"What? We'll get into the water? That's not possible." Riley said in fear.

"Look, calm down… Just hold on to me and don't panic or drown me, okay?" He said soothingly to calm her fear. "I'll hold you."

"What if I drowned?"

"Riley, you're bullshitting." She sighed and looked at the ship for a few moments.

"Okay…. But… Don't let me go please, okay?" Lucas smirked at her and leaned back in the boat.

"Are you begging me?" He said smugly with a smirk and Riley looked at his in disbelief.

"You can't possibly be bad enough to use this situation like this." She said in disbelief but with a glare and Lucas huffed as he looked around them.

"Actually I can, but even I can't take this adrenaline rush from being in this boat. C'mon, let's go." He said and stood up. Riley clutched his arm and stood up as well. He got into the water and helped her into it before helping her onto his back and started swimming with her on his back, for the second time this day. He swam for about five minutes before they reached the ladder of the ship. He helped her on it and then went up after her.

Riley was shivering as she made her way towards where she saw a table and chairs on the ship. She stood there shivering as Lucas looked around them.

"There's probably no one here." He said before looking at the wheel that Riley was standing next and the cable that was beside it that was supposed to send and receive messages to the shore. "Just my fucking luck! The cable is cut."

"I'm not even one percent surprised." Riley said through her shivers as she hugged her body. "What are we gonna do now?"

"I think we should stay here. It wouldn't be a great idea to swim with you back to the hotel."

"I can't believe you're making fun of me in this situation." Riley said with a glare at him.

"Making fun of you? I said that because you can't swim and I can't swim all this distance with you on my back. One of is bond to drown if I do that." Lucas explained.

"Let's not make this talk longer." Riley snapped. She wasn't annoyed with him as much as she was annoyed with how cold she was. They sat down and Riley hugged her knees to her chest while making sure that her dress wasn't exposing her.

"I'll go take a look inside. Maybe I'll find something useful for us." Lucas said and Riley nodded before she watched him make his was into closed part of the ship that was for the crew to sleep in. He tried opening the doors that were inside but they were all locked.

"I can't believe this… I can't believe that I got stuck in a ship in the middle of god knows where with this jerk instead of being Farkle's girlfriend." Riley said to herself in frustration. Lucas found some clothes and took them all out of their place.

"RILEY!" He called for her.

"YES?"

"Will you come here, please?" Riley huffed.

"I'm coming." She said before making her way to him. Lucas was unbuttoning his shirt as he talked to her.

"I found some clothes. You can change into them if you want." He said nodding towards the clothes.

"I can do that." Riley said before she looked at him to find him taking his shirt off. "What do you think you're doing?" She said before hurriedly covering her eyes and turning her back to him.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm not going to stay in these wet clothes. It'll be best if you took your clothes off too. You'll get sick if you don't."

"What!?" Riley exclaimed as she turned to him. Even though she tried her hardest not to glance at him, he had a really great chest. He looked hot shirtless. "Are you a pervert?! What is your goal? I swear to god that I'll kill you if you touch me!"

"You're seriously sick. First off, you're not my type." _Even though you look gorgeous in this dress even if your hair is wet and your makeup is slightly smudged._ He thought. "I wouldn't turn around and even glance at you if I stay stuck in a deserted island not just the sea. Secondly, I don't know what kind of impression I left on you, but I'm not a pervert."

Riley looked at him as he took a shirt from the clothes he found before she turned her back to him once more. He buttoned the shirt that was at least a size big on him before taking his white pants off and putting on the pair of beige ones that were, again, about a size or two big for him. He took his money out of his old pants and stuck them into his pockets before making his way past Riley and out of the room.

Riley looked at the clothes and found a plaid button up a long with a pair of white shorts. She looked at the door ensuring that Lucas was far from seeing distance before she unzipped her dress from the side zipper. She took her arm out one of straps and swept her hair to one side. She had almost her entire back showing when Lucas made his way down the first two steps to the room before coming to a halt upon seeing her naked back. He couldn't help or stop himself from checking her out and marveling slightly at the exposed skin.

Riley suddenly turned with her dress clutched to her chest and gasped upon seeing him there.

"Pardon… I'll leave." Lucas said hurriedly.

"What are you even doing here!?" Riley yelled.

"Don't yell… I was coming to take something to drink. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I don't want anything." She snapped.

"Okay, don't get mad. I'm leaving." He turned his head suddenly and pumped it into the ceiling. "Ouch! My head…" he winced in pain as he clutched his head.

"You never know when God is going to punish you." Riley mumbled loudly for him to hear.

"You're the biggest punishment that God gave me, honey." Lucas said before he finally left. Riley checked that he was far away before she took off her dress completely and put on the pair of shorts that were a bit big for her but nothing that couldn't be handled with the attached belt. She slipped on the plaid button up over her bra and buttoned it up.

She wasn't looking forward for what's going to happen until they go back to the hotel.

God only knows when they will go back.

What if they're stuck like this forever?

* * *

 **Here we go again. Lucas and Riley disappeared together once more but this time in the middle of nowhere. Also, did you see how I sneaked the whole 'pretty brunette' nickname into this?**

 **Before anything, I'd like to answer the two questions I got in the reviews. First of all, Minkus is a single father. He and his wife had a divorce. Same thing with Ella, she's a divorced woman. I don't know if i'll ever mention it clearly in the story since Minkus and Ella are pretty much just supporting characters. So, would you still call any kind of relationship between them an affair? well until now it kind of is since no one knows but we'll see more of this next chapter.**

 **As for why Kayli called Cathy aunt, I didn't know how Kayli is supposed to call her and I didn't find it respectful for her to call her just Cathy, you know?**

 **As for the story in general, I'm kind of fearing it's future... Ramadan is starting in about a week and half and you guys may or may not know, we fast from 3 something in the morning to 7 in the evening and Ramadan is the month where we devote all of our time to prayers and Quran because when we do that plus the fasting, by the end of the month, everything that has happened in the year before becomes forgiven. My point is, I don't know when or how frequent I'm gonna be updating during that month.**

 **Then after that, I have my senior year in high school. In my country, this is the toughest, most serious year in our school life, and I want to be a dentist so I'll have to devote all my time to studying starting from August. I wouldn't have time to breath let alone update since in my country, it's a big, big deal.**

 **So until August, I'm gonna try and update as frequently as possible so that this story is done by the time I start the school year since I don't want to put this on hiatus. I know it's still way to early, but I just wanted to explain to you guys. So please, wish me luck that I'll be able to do it.**

 **Anyways, did you like the chapter? what was your favorite bit?**

 **Tell me what do you think will happen next and how they'll possibly get out of this situation. Also, is it okay for you if they curse in the story? Is it okay if Riley does occasionally?**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	10. Chapter 10: Missing?

"Look dear, we're near your brother's house… I'd better get off here and continue on foot." Ella told Minkus who looked at her with a frown.

"You're so stubborn, Ella." He said before sighing, "Let's stop here, Freddie." He told his driver who stopped not far from the house. They both got out of the car together and Minkus looked around him with a scowl.

"Minkus… Please don't be upset. I'm seriously not ready." Ella explained as she took hold of his hand. "I have to tell Kayli about our relationship first… Imagine if she found out from someone else? All of the trust between us will be destroyed. I don't want her to feel like I'm abandoning her like her father did."

"You're right…" Minkus said with a sigh as he looked at the ground before looking back up at her. "I never thought about that. Cait will be pretty upset too if she found out from someone else."

"See… It's the same thing for you as well." She stepped closer to him and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Let's feel whatever we feel for each other but our first priority must be our children." Minkus nodded as his arm went around her waist.

"Of course… That's my opinion too."

"I know too well how great of a father you are. Don't let our feelings cloud our minds and rationality…. Please." She said with a hopeful smile and he smiled back at her.

"Okay… As you like, love. I won't bring up this subject again, I promise." Ella's smile widened and she gave him a hug.

"I love you." She said once she pulled away before leaning in again and giving him a peck on the lips.

"I love you too, Ella." He said back with a smile and they both started heading towards the house after Ella took her hand out of his. The servant led them into the living room and they both sat down, each one on a separate couch. Not even two minutes later, Joseph and Cathy made their way into the living room.

"Ella, how was your flight?" Cathy asked after greeting them. She sat down with Ella on the couch while Joseph sat down on the other one with his brother.

"It was pretty good, Cath. I pumped into Minkus at the door as well." Ella said and Minkus' gaze turned uncomfortable slightly. "Such a coincidence."

"You didn't have a program for today or what, Minkus?" Joseph asked.

"I did but um… It was cancelled last minute. The kids are in Miami and I didn't really feel like going into an empty house." He explained with slight nervousness.

"Oh, I finally see some feelings in your eyes, Minkus. You seem like you're in love." Cathy said making the two uncomfortable as Minkus looked at Ella who avoided his eyes at all costs.

"Oh, it's a sign for caducity, Cathy." Joseph joked and Ella giggled out loud.

"Caducity?!" He exclaimed. "What is that?"

"The Minkus that I know, stopped aging after turning thirty." Cathy said with a giggle.

"My queen." He said as he bowed and held her hand before planting a kiss on it.

"Oh love." Cathy said.

"He's the same Minkus every time." Joseph said and they all smiled before talking and joking for some time.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Okay… Um, let me talk your heels off so that I can see your ankle well." Ian said as he sat down beside her and lifted her leg up onto his lap after taking the shoe off. Caitlyn looked at him with a soft smile on her lips forgetting that she was supposed to be in pain. "I'm guessing it doesn't hurt as much now, does it?" Ian said as he looked at her face.

"How can it not hurt? It hurts so bad, I can't even stand on it."

"I wonder if we're supposed to go to the hospital… It sounds serious." Ian said with a worried expression on his face.

"No!" Caitlyn exclaimed in panic. "I mean… Weren't we going to put ice on it? That will probably heal it."

"Excuse me?" Ian called to the waiter who was passing by. "Can we have some ice, please? Preferably in bag and not in a cub as well." The waiter nodded and went to get it and Ian went back to checking her ankle. He touched it and Caitlyn winced in fake pain.

* * *

Minutes and hours passed and now it was night time. Maya and josh were walking together in one of local streets of Miami as they got to know each other more. Halfway through their day together, they decided to just ditch the party and spend the day their own way.

"Oh… Can we take a look at that?" Maya pointed at a guy who had a table with jewels set up on it. Josh nodded and led her towards it. Maya looked at the bracelets before pointing at a certain one. "How much is this one?"

"Fifty dollars." The guy answered and Maya scoffed.

"That's expensive for a simple bracelet like this one." She argued with the guy for a few seconds before Josh turned around, having gave them their back a while before, and handed the guy fifty dollar.

"We'll take it." He said with a smile.

"No… Josh-"

"What would we lose? It's a small gift, Maya." Josh said as he smiled at her.

"Even if… I can't accept it."

"Please accept it." Josh said before taking her wrist and clipping the bracelet around it, not waiting for her response. It was a simple bracelet that had very small stars connected to each other going all around it and forming the bracelet itself. "It suits you really well."

"Thank you so much." Maya said softly.

"Oh what a coincidence? How are you?" She heard a very familiar voice say from beside them and she turned to see a lady hugging a girl that looked like she was her age. Maya saw how her hand sneaked into the girl's bag and took her wallet as she hugged her and then she remembered where she'd heard the voice before.

"That's the lady who stole me and Riley's money the other night." Maya said with an angry look on her face.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked and it was like Maya didn't even hear him.

"Oh, you THIEF!" Maya exclaimed angrily as she made her way to the lady.

"How dare you call me a thief?!" The lady exclaimed in anger as well. "Who are you?"

"Aren't you ashamed of stealing people's wallets?!" Maya told her angrily as she snatched the girl's wallet from the hand that was hidden behind her back. "You stole me and my friend's money from around my neck and now you stole this girl's wallet."

"How dare you call me a thief?! I didn't steal anything…. She dropped this!" The lady yelled.

"Because of you, I didn't even have five cents! Give me my wallet back!"

"I don't have your wallet! Who the hell are you?" By now a crowd had formed around them but Maya didn't care or even notice.

"You have the guts to deny it! I saw her stealing this from your bag with my own eyes when she was hugging you." She told the girl as she handed her the wallet back. "Isn't this yours?"

"Yes! Yes, that's mine!" The girl looked through the wallet frantically checking that nothing was lost. The lady started to turn around to run but Josh was quick in taking hold of her arm. A policeman made his way towards the noise.

"Sir, this lady is a thief. She stole my…. Girlfriend's wallet before." Josh said and Maya flushed at the word girlfriend.

"She stole my wallet as well! I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for this girl here."

"Not true! I swear it a calumny, sir!" The lady exclaimed as she tried to get out of Josh's hold but she found her arm being taken by the policeman.

"You can say that at the police station. You're coming with me." He told the lady as he dragged her with him. "You two can come too so you could file a serious complaint."

"Shall we go, Maya?" Josh asked and Maya nodded, still flustered. They headed behind the policeman.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Ian pressed around on Caitlyn's ankle very lightly after removing the ice that they've kept there for a few hours now. That only brought Caitlyn actual pain because of the coolness of the ice.

"It probably doesn't hurt that much now, right?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, It doesn't… I mean the ice really did help."

"It must've numbed the area."

"Yeah… Thank you." Caitlyn said with a smile that Ian returned.

"Cait?" A voice said from behind their tented seats and they looked up to see Farkle and Kayli. Farkle noticed the leg that was on Ian's lap as he got into the private tented seats with them and sat down. Caitlyn took her leg down as Kayli sat beside them while Farkle sat opposite from them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I just twisted my ankle slightly."

"Are you sure that you just twisted it? That's it's not fractured or broken?" Farkle asked worriedly

"She wouldn't have taken the pain if it were something of that sort." Ian answered for her.

"Caitlyn… Are you okay?" Kayli asked and Caitlyn turned to her with a small smile.

"Kayli… how are you?"

"How am I? We're still looking for the all mighty Lucas Friar to show up until now… So I'd say not so great." Kayli answered with a blank face.

"You still didn't find him?" Ian wondered.

"Nope… It's like he got swallowed by the ground." Farkle said with sigh.

"Oh… Your girlfriend disappeared as well." Caitlyn asked and Farkle gulped as he looked at his sister. He was hoping to not be asked about her whereabouts.

"I hope she's not with Lucas… again." Kayli said in somewhat of a warning.

"She doesn't feel too good so she resting in her room." Farkle hoped that they won't ask to go up and check on her.

"Are you sure? Don't let me see her in tomorrow's headlines again, then." Kayli said in a warning tone once again.

"I hope…" Farkle mumbled to himself. "We tired you out as well, Ian."

"Nothing of that sort happened, Farkle." He looked at Caitlyn who grinned at him. "Cait is just like a sister to me too." At that her smile dropped and she looked away from him.

Farkle tried calling Lucas once again and went straight to voicemail just like every single time that he's tried calling.

"There isn't a place that we haven't look at, Mr. Farkle. We looked inside the hotel and the areas around it as well but we didn't find him." The receptionist from earlier told him as he finally found their table. Farkle nodded and the guy went back to his work.

"I'm starting to really get worried now." Farkle said as he looked at them noticing the worried expression on Kayli's face as well.

"What are we gonna do? Are we gonna wait without doing anything?" Caitlyn asked.

"I think we should call the police." Ian suggested.

"But what if there is nothing serious? Lucas doesn't disappear from the newspaper for days anyways… It won't do any good if another adventure happens and the media knows about it." Kayli said. "We're not just normal people."

"She's right…. If we look at Lucas' irresponsible acts, then there's a huge possibility that this isn't that serious." Ian said and Farkle sighed as he thought about what he should do. Then He decided that the best thing to do right now is to at least tell his father. He excused himself and walked away from their earshot and dialed his father.

"Hey, son." Minkus answered as he stopped eating.

"Dad… I need to talk to you about something important." Minkus looked at the people around the table and excused himself out of dining room and into the living room, away from their earshot as well.

"I'm listening…"

"Lucas is missing." Farkle stated.

"Missing?" Minkus asked in a whisper as he looked around him to ensure that no one was coming. "Since when?"

"He's been missing for about four hours. I looked for him everywhere but I couldn't find him. I don't know what I'm supposed to do… Do I call the police?" Minkus gave him a small scoff before answering.

"Son, we're talking about Lucas here. God knows what he's doing. He'll show up by tomorrow morning, don't worry."

"But it's different this time, dad. I mean… his disappearance isn't rational or normal at all."

"How is it different, Farkle? Be honest with me, son." Farkle sighed before telling his father everything that has happened since this morning, keeping out the parts about Riley. "Well if the situation is really like your telling me… then yeah his disappearance is not normal or rational but when it has to with Lucas, I don't know how right it is too look at it from the rational side. For that reason, let's wait until tomorrow morning before we do anything about it. I'll be on the first plane to Miami anyways."

"Okay, dad…" Farkle said with a sigh.

"I don't think that it's anything serious, Farkle. Don't worry yourself too much, son. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Don't tell my uncle anything… Okay, dad?"

"Okay… How's your sister? You're together, aren't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Go to sleep okay? Don't worry yourselves…"

"Okay… Goodnight, dad." He said and hanged up after his father wished him the same.

Minkus went back to the table after planting a smile on his face so that they don't suspect anything.

"Everything okay, brother?"

"Yeah, he just want to ask me when I plan on going to Miami." He said and they both went back to eating. Cathy kept eying the delicious looking croissants that Topanga made them for dinner. No matter how much she wanted to have one, she couldn't as she knew she needed to lose weight because she was sure that she gained some ever since she couldn't fit in those dress really well. She looked at Ella who was eating her food comfortably while Cathy ate salad.

"Ella… did you lose weight?" She asked and Minkus looked at Ella's form discreetly.

"Did I? I didn't notice at all." Ella answered as she looked at Joseph and Minkus.

"Please tell me what you do to lose weight…"

"No, dear, I don't do anything. I have had too much work to do lately that I can't even breathe before being pushed into another meeting. I don't even have time to exercise."

"You have a meeting with us tomorrow as well, don't you?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh how wonderful! You're working together?" Cathy said with a smile and Ella nodded as she chewed on the food in her mouth.

"Can you pass me the black pepper, honey?" Joseph asked and Cathy passed it to him.

"We're going to buy the bathroom products such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and such things for our hotel in Miami from Ella's company." Minkus explained with a grin.

"That's wonderful!" Cathy said excitedly, "Joseph, I was wondering if we could go on holiday to Miami before the opening ceremony? Please.."

"That would be great…. Besides, I changed Minkus' Yacht for him and I wasn't able to show it him." Joseph said as he looked at his brother. Ella turned her head to the side to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm honestly curious towards the Yacht that you chose, brother." Joseph smiled at him and they all went back to eating with small conversations. They finished their food and went into the dining room where the servants served them coffee and tea. They stayed together chatting for an hour or so.

"I'm gonna excuse myself now, Cath." Ella said as she placed her tea cup on the coffee table in front of them. Minkus looked at her before glancing at his watch.

"We couldn't talk to you properly, dear." Cathy complained.

"I feel tired… Seems like jet lag got to me this time." She explained with a nervous laugh. "But we'll definitely meet… I'll be here for a few days anyways."

"Ella… Are you sure you don't want to stay here with us?" Cathy asked and Minkus glanced back at Ella.

"Thank you, dear…. But I won't be staying in a strange place… I booked a room in your hotel in LA." Ella answered her with a smile.

"Oh yeah? Let me call them so that they could take extra care of you." Joseph told her with a smile as he moved to get his phone from the table.

"No need for that at all." She said and Joseph opened his mouth to answer when Minkus suddenly spoke up.

"I'll get going as well…. I'll give Ella a ride on my way home." He said as he stood up.

"I don't want to bother you." Ella said as she stood up as well.

"Oh, It's okay." He said and Cathy looked between the two with a suspicious smile on her face as she and Joseph stood up. "oh and just so you know, I'm heading to Miami tomorrow, brother…. I want to spend a few days with the Farkle and Caitlyn as well as Lucas."

"There's no problems concerning our troublemaker Lucas, right?" Joseph asked worriedly.

"No, brother…" Minkus reassured him with a nervous smile.

"Shall we go too, Joseph?" Cathy asked and Ella's eyes went to Minkus' in slight panic.

"Going tomorrow will be hard but we'll see about that nonetheless."

"Shall we go then?" Minkus said and Ella nodded.

"Ella… Call me tomorrow whenever you're free so that we can sit and talk about the kid's situation, alright?" Ella nodded and with that, her and Minkus left the house together.

During their car ride, he told her about his phone call with Farkle.

"Who knows how Kayli is doing right now… By the way I'm coming with you to Miami tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yeah… and I'm sorry about tonight… I don't how such a thing came out of my mouth but now I have to stay at the hotel." Ella said apologetically and he pulled her to him and she laid her head on his chest.

"I'm okay with it because you'll be with me tomorrow… That's enough for me." He said as he placed a kiss on her head.

 ***GMGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"At least she'll spend some time in jail…" Josh said as they made their way out of the police station.

"She deserves it." Maya stated.

"You got so mad at her though."

"I lost myself back then… All I could feel was anger… because of that lady we spent the night on beach chairs and I couldn't even have money to get back to the hotel."

"Well now she'll hopefully learn not to steal anything from anyone." Josh said and Maya nodded. Their hands brushed as they walked next to each other and with a blush, Josh made his move and wrapped his hand around hers, lacing their fingers together.

Maya looked at their hands in surprise before a blush took place on her face. Josh looked at her and smiled so she smiled back as they walked together, holding hands and in silence.

 _ **How about we go see Kayli? Yeah let's go.**_

Kayli made her way into her room and threw her clutch angrily on her bed. "Look at the situation you're in Kayli." She said to herself as a few tears fell down her face and she sat down on her bed as well. "He must be with someone…. I'm sure that he's with that girl from the newspaper. You're such an idiot, Kayli… Idiot!" She hit the bed as more tears fell down her face.

"Of course he wouldn't introduce me to her and on top of that he disappeared from the entire hotel. How did I not think of this happening before?" she huffed before deciding to change into her PJs and try to distract herself.

* * *

Lucas made his way out of the room with two cups of tea in his hands to warm their bodies up a little bit. He placed one on the dining room that riley was sitting on and she looked up at him, having not felt his presence. He sat down next to her as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup and brought it to her lips. Lucas looked at his watch and it read ten in the evening. He looked at Riley who was obviously trying to avoid his gaze… in anger or embarrassment, he didn't know.

"Please excuse me, Riley…" He said as he looked at the table awkwardly and she looked at him in surprise. "Believe me, I didn't see anything and I wouldn't have came in if I knew that you'd already started undressing."

"In my opinion, let's close this subject and not talk about it…"

"Okay then…" Lucas said with a sigh and looked around them. "Farkle must be so worried about me now… I can't even imagine how Kayli is by now. She must be Furious."

"I'm responsible for all of that…" Riley said in a soft, guilty voice and Lucas looked at her once again, "You're in this disaster because of me… I'm sorry." Lucas smiled slightly.

"Well, at least it's a good thing that you realize that." Riley's guilty look turned into a glare and he looked back at the table. "I'm the one who asked you for this favor so I think we could both share responsibility for this." He said in a soft voice as he looked at her with a smile.

"What are we gonna do now then?" Riley asked as she looked around them at the pitch black ocean around them.

"We'll wait here until the morning and then we'll see what we're gonna do depending on what happens in the morning."

"What will happen when the ship's owners return?"

"We're not thieves… We'll explain it to them and I'm sure that they'll understand us and forgive us."

"I hope so."

"C'mon… Let's go down and rest for a bit." He said before getting up and Riley nodded and followed suit. They both headed down to the room. "We'll sleep here together." He pointed at the L-shaped couch type thingy.

"Together?" Riley asked with narrowed eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh what else?"

"If you don't like that then you can go sleep outside and I'll sleep here."

"Why do _I_ sleep outside? You sleep outside."

"You're the one who doesn't want to sleep with me." Lucas said with a huff. _Oh boy that came out way worse than I meant for it._ He thought to himself, thanking god that Riley didn't understand it the wrong way. "I mean… Didn't you say a few minutes ago that everything happens because of you?"

"And didn't you also say that we'll share the responsibility?"

"Then let me sleep here," He pointed at the horizontal part of the L-shape, "And you sleep there." Then at the vertical one.

"So we'll sleep together and like that as well? Impossible."

"Alright then, as you like." Lucas said before laying down on the couch after adjusting the little pillow that was there. "It's so comfortable." Riley huffed before heading towards the stairs that lead upstairs. "Okay… Come back." Lucas told her with a sigh and she turned to him with a smile as he stood back up.

"Thank you… You're so nice." She said as she looked up at him, having taken her heels off when she changed. Lucas just nodded with a tight smile before making his way up the stairs. Riley laid down on the couch thingy and settled herself as Lucas laid down on the one outside and looked up at the sky. Soon enough, they both fell asleep.

Riley didn't even turn once in her sleep while Lucas slept peacefully for two hours before he started to feel so cold. He wrapped his arms around himself in his sleep to try and keep himself warm and that worked for a bit before he started feeling even colder.

He tossed and turned to find warmth before failing. He sat up and rubbed his arm that had seemingly went numb from the cold.

"Look at the situation I'm in!" He mumbled to himself as he rubbed his arm to get it warm. He huffed before getting up and heading down and Laying down with Riley. "Hmm… Much warmer." He whispered to himself so that he doesn't disturb her. The last thought he had as he fell back to sleep was that she looked really peaceful while sleeping.

After that, neither budged until the sun finally came out. Not only the sun though… The owners of the ship made their way towards it in a small boat before getting into the ship with bags of supplies with them. The captain put them on the dining table and turned towards the cut cable.

"Avez-vous acheté le câble?" The captain asked his apprentice. (Did you buy the cable?) "Le câble pour le récepteur?" (The cable for the receiver?)

"Oui, le capitaine." The apprentice answered him as he took it out from the bag. (Yes, Captain.)

"Attacher soigneusement cette fois de sorte qu'il fonctionne." The captain told him. (Attach it carefully this time so that it works.)

"D'accord." (Okay.)

Downstairs, the sunlight finally disturbed Lucas so he opened his eyes and was met by a beautiful view. He looked at Riley's sleeping face as he blinked a few times so that he sees clearly before he propped his head slightly and looked at her some more as a smile took place on his face. Once again the only thought that came to his mind was how peaceful she looked while she was sleeping. She almost looked like an angel.

She stirred slightly and opened her eyes to stare right into Lucas' green ones and she jumped in surprise, sitting up.

"What's happening?" She exclaimed loudly, bringing the attention of the captain and the apprentice as well, that someone was in the bought with them. The captain motioned for the guy to stay silent.

"Vous avez entendu trop?" _(Did you hear that too?)_ The captain asked and the guy nodded. The captain took out a gun that he had hidden under the wheel and headed towards the door. He opened it and pointed the gun towards them as he went down the stairs. "Levez les bras au-dessus de votre tête." _(Raise your arms_ _above your head.)_ They both didn't understand him but when he motioned towards the air with his gun, they raised their arms out of fear. "Qui êtes-vous?" _(Who are you?)_

"You got this wrong… We're not thieves or high jacking this ship… We're peaceful... Can you speak English? Spanish? Arabic?" Lucas said not understanding anything other than the gun pointed at them and he had a feeling that the guy didn't understand him either, because he looked at the other guy in confusion and he just shrugged and shook his head. "They don't understand English… Look how dumb they're looking at us." He told Riley who looked back at them in panic.

"The fuel to our boat ran out... Then the ocean pulled us like that…" She talked in signs hoping that they'd understand, but the guy only pointed the gun at her this time. "And we found ourselves here… We're peaceful, I swear!" She held up the piece sign.

"They can't speak English… What are you doing?" Lucas asked her in confusion.

"They'll understand from my signs or facial expressions!" She exclaimed as she brought her hands down. "Stop sticking your nose in everything I do! God, how annoying."

"Alright… Do as you wish. I'm taking my freaking nose out of your business." Lucas snapped at her. The guy motioned for them to raise their hands once again before motioning towards the stairs.

"I think he wants us to go upstairs." Riley said and they both got up. He pointed the gun to their backs at the apprentice took hold of their arms and led them upstairs before making them sit down on two chairs with their back to each other, and tied them up to the chairs with their hands behind their backs.

And that's when they knew that they were doomed.

Is there anything worse awaiting them?

* * *

 **Hmm.. somewhat of a boring chapter, eh? It was mostly about Everyone but our two main characters.**

 **I want to thank you for your understanding of what I said last chapter, it means a lot to me know that you understand where I'm coming from. As for the swearing, I personally don't mind when characters curse in stories or on TV but because someone said that they preferred no cursing, I will try and make it minimum.**

 **For this chapter, The language that the Captain spoke in is French in case you didn't know... I used a translator online so I'm pretty sure that the translation isn't 100% accurate so just go with the English translation that I wrote between the brackets.**

 **If you didn't enjoy this chapter, then let me tell you... You're going to be SO happy with the next one, especially the ending, if it does end how I plan for it to end if not, then it'll happen in the chapter after it. Next chapter will have a few satisfying moments between Rucas that will make you Rucas shippers so happy. It will also have a nice heart to heart (kind of) conversation about their past and we'll see a different side of Lucas every now and then.**

 **Without giving anything more away, I promise next chapter will be really good.**

 **Alright, question time; Where are you from? If you're from The US, then tell me what state and if you're from outside of the US then also tell me where you're from. Also, What is your first language? Mine is Arabic.**

 **Anyways, Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, even if you didn't enjoy it that much.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	11. Chapter 11: What the hell am I doing?

"Don't scowl, Joseph…. You've been upset ever since we left the house, lighten up a little." Cathy said as the driver drove them towards a hiking place.

"Couldn't you just go by yourself? I had a lot of work to do today and now my entire program is upside down." Joseph said as he kept looking out the window in annoyance.

"You just made some time for your wife this morning… Is that too much, Joseph? You seriously make me sad sometimes, did you know that?" Joseph looked at her before looking back out of the window. "You've got a lot of negative energy built up inside of you because of working non-stop in a closed place. You've been so stressed for the past few days because of that, baby."

"There's only one reason for my stress, Cath… And it's our only son."

"Here you go again with bringing Lucas into this…. And what's with my son, huh? He's a hard working guy that cares about what he does… He's a guy, cut him some slack for the trouble he causes every once in a while." Joseph looked back at her in disbelief and scoffed. "Please… Just lighten up… Smile a little bit. We're going to a really beautiful place."

After a few minutes of driving, the driver stopped the car and parked it before opening Cathy's door for her. She hurried to her husband's side and started stretching while he just looked at her annoyed before turning to the driver.

"Wait for us here, please." He said to the driver who nodded before getting back into the car. Joseph put his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants as he started walking behind his wife. He looked at her as she stopped every two steps to stretch. "Bringing me here at this hour is unbelievable, Cathy."

"Joseph… You kept talking the entire way here. Look where we are, baby… We're in the forest. Look at the trees and the birds… Fresh air… Let's fill our lungs with fresh air, shall we?" She inhaled deeply then exhaled and repeated that a few times, and showed him a few different methods of breathing fresh air. Like closing one nostril and inhaling through the other, and doing the same thing but with exhaling. Joseph inhaled and exhaled in annoyance.

"I inhaled fresh air and I exhaled fresh air, are we done? I have a meeting, let's go back home."

"Meeting after meeting… Soon enough you'll be a meeting yourself. What's wrong with you, Joseph? We'll just get some fresh air and walk for a bit and then we'll go home." He huffed before nodding with a tight smile. Cathy hugged him and kissed his cheek with a smile. "Now we can start our morning exercise."

She started walking ahead of him and he followed her slowly. After about half an hour, he found that she was way ahead of him so he start jogging to reach her.

"Cathy… Will you slow down a little? We said that we'll breathe fresh air and walk… But you're running now, honey." He finally reached her and slowed down his pace to match hers.

"What can I do, honey? This is what exercising is. I'm trying to lose weight for the opening ceremony." At that Joseph started chuckling.

"You want to lose weight? There are only a few days left until that ceremony. How many kilos do you plan on losing by then?"

"Do you realize how much of a difference losing 250 grams makes? Besides, don't you know me? I've been your wife for years. If I my body gains weight, my face also gets fuller and fatter and that stresses me out."

"I like you like this and I have absolutely no problem with whether you gain weight or not."

"Don't try condolence with me, Joseph. Besides, this ceremony is ours… It's very important. Didn't you see how much weight Ella has lost? And she's older than me."

"Ella is older than you? I can't believe that!" Joseph joked and Cathy just glared at him.

"I'm sorry I didn't get that… Are you trying to say that I look older with your jokes?" She asked as she kept walking with her fast pace.

"You got it wrong, love… I didn't mean it like that. You're more youthful than Ella… Besides Ella almost looks like a stick."

He knew that he was just trying to make her feel better because despite being three years older, Ella still looks like a college student. She doesn't age much, looks wise.

"Yeah, she's really thin, isn't she? I want to wear size 34 instead of size 36… That's why we'll follow a diet and lose weight."

"Excuse me… why are you saying 'we'? I don't dream of being thin so keep me out of your diet plans. I'm happy with the way my body looks and you should be too."

"Exercising and doing sports aren't only for when you want to lose weight… They keep our bodies fit and healthy."

"Whatever you say, Cathy… Can we please stop now? I'm tired…" He stopped walking, slightly out of breath.

"Really? I'm the complete opposite… I feel pretty energetic, you know? Look at that road?" She pointed at the road that they've just walked through, "I think if we run through this road instead of walking, we'll lose weight and it'll be more fun." She said before she started running making joseph run after her to try and keep up with her.

"You know, Cath… With this determination, it's possible that you'll be pretty successful if you decide to start working. I wonder whose traits our son got."

"Once again, you brought our son back into this. You're really weird, Joseph. My son can also be ambitious and full of determination but he isn't, why? Because he's successful and he's got everything, because he's handsome. He's my son."

"And he earn money, and there's absolutely no need for him to try and do some work to get anything. He's a player, he doesn't take his relationship seriously and he doesn't know what responsibility even means… What a wonderful life he has! Was I like that when I was his age?"

"Thank god… My son is lucky." Cathy said and Joseph stopped running being so out of breath.

"I don't know what to say, Cathy."

"Don't say anything, honey. Don't say anything." He didn't answer her so she looked back at him to see him fall into the ground. "Joseph!?" She said a few times as she ran back to him. "Are you okay? What happened?" He sat on his knees on the ground and took a few deep breaths.

"I'm okay… I felt a little dizzy… I probably tired myself out."

"You were never like this… What happened?" She said worriedly as she held his hand.

"I got tired."

"Let's call your doctor so that he could examine you as soon as possible."

"I'm okay… It's not something to call the doctor over." He said as he got up from the ground with Cathy's help. "Let's not overreact… I'm okay."

"You're not… Listen to me carefully, we'll go to the doctor right now and he'll examine you." He opened his mouth to protest but she beat him to it. "You will not protest, we're going to the doctor and that's final."

"Okay…" He said with a sigh and they headed towards the car with Cathy holding onto his arm to support him.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Topanga finished getting ready for the day and decided to call Riley before leaving the house. She got her phone out of her back pocket and dialed Riley's number but went through to voicemail right away.

"That's weird… Riley always answers her phone." She muttered to herself before deciding to call Maya.

Maya stirred awake at the sound of her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID through one eye before looking at the other bed in the room, expecting to see Riley. She sat up with a huff when she was met with a perfectly made bed, just like it was yesterday.

"This girl didn't even come back last night." She took her phone and looked at it as it continued ringing. "What will I say to Topanga now? I can't just ignore her call but what am I going to say if I do answer? Damn you Riley for not coming back last night." She huffed before deciding to just answer. "Hello, Topanga!"

"Good morning, Maya… how are you?" Topanga greeted, relieved that Maya finally picked up.

"I'm fine, thank you… What about you?"

"I'm okay too, sweetie…. I couldn't reach Riley so I was wondering if she was near you."

"Um…" Maya trailed off as she tried to think about something to say. "Riley's phone broke down yesterday so that's why you couldn't reach her. She left to start her shift a while ago… I was about to leave for my shift as well…. But I'll tell her that you called."

"Okay… Please be quick with telling her… Also make her call me as soon as she can, alright?"

"Alright… Have a nice day, Auntie."

"You too, Maya-pie." With that they both hanged up and released a sigh of relief for completely different reasons.

"Where the hell are you, pumpkin?" Maya mumbled to the empty bed beside hers. She sighed before getting out of bed and heading to take a shower and get ready for the day, hoping that she'll find Riley by the pool.

Topanga got her hand bag and put her shoes on before heading out of the house and locking it behind her. As she was heading out of their drive way, a man in his late forties made his way towards her. She smiled upon seeing him.

"Good morning, Mr. Omar…" She greeted with a polite smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Mathews. I'm guessing you started working, didn't you? I stopped by yesterday but you weren't here." At his words, Topanga face fell and she looked around before saying the next words in a more quiet voice.

"Um… If you came for the debt… I will be able to pay it by the end of this month. I'll be able to pay it in the required times from now on…"

"No... I didn't come for that." He said with a sad smile. Mr. Mathews was one of his close friends so doing what he was doing was hard for him. "I told you before that I could possibly give my house to a construction company… Now, it's final." He couldn't look at Topanga's sad face so he looked at the ground as he spoke. "Um… If you could leave the house as soon as possible…"

"That was so sudden… It's not an easy task to find a house with such short notice…" Topanga said in a daze.

"I wouldn't have asked you for such a thing if it was a matter in my own hands… but my brothers are insisting… You know this house is in a nice area of town… After improving it a little, it'll get a lot of money, once it's sold."

"You're right.."

"Um… you can pay the debt for the rent later… It's enough if you just vacate the house as soon as possible… As much as it upsets me, I can't do anything else for you."

"Thank you… Have a good day." Topanga said quietly before she continued on her way to the Friars. As she walked to the main street, a tear fell down her face and she looked at the blue sky above her. "I miss you, Cory."

She wiped the tear that fell away and continued walking.

"How am I going to tell Riley? She'll be so upset… My pumpkin." She mumbled to herself.

"Topanga!" One of her neighbors called from behind her.

"And then there are the memories… Memories of Cory are in that house."

"Topanga!"

"What am I going to do?"

"Topanga!" Her neighbor called once more after finally reaching her. "What's wrong? I've been calling your name over and over but you didn't hear me."

"Oh, pardon me… I spaced out a little bit."

"Are you okay, though?"

"Yes… No… My house owner… he's selling the house and told me to leave the house as soon as possible… I was just thinking about this mess and what I'm gonna do… How on earth am I going to find a house in such short notice?"

"You've been living in that house for so long and he's known you and Cory… How can he do that so suddenly?" Her neighbor said and then seemed to remember something, "Ah! You know the couple the live in the apartment above mine? They're getting a divorce and leaving the house. How about we go and take a look at their apartment together?"

"Oh… Well, let me call in to tell them that I'll be late for work then." She called Kate and informed her before they started walking towards the house.

"Oh hey, Topanga!" another neighbor said as she made her way towards them with groceries in her hand. "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks." Topanga answered with a smile.

"You're moving out of your apartment aren't you?" The neighbor who was with Topanga asked. "Topanga is looking for a house."

"No… He begged me to forgive him and we made up… We're not getting a divorce anymore. Why are you leaving your house, though? Finding a house isn't easy… I did search for one but the rent is so high… You need at least five thousand dollars to just make a house yours…. How are you gonna be able to find a house and pay all of that by yourself when we find trouble with our husbands by our side?" When she said that, Topanga felt as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on her. She adverted her eyes to the ground with a sad smile.

"We got your point, thank you." Topanga's neighbor said.

"Oh actually… There's a flat and the rent is okay but I didn't really like it… Maybe you'll like it, Topanga." Topanga's attention perked up once again and she looked up from the ground, full of hope. "Let me give you the landlord's number and you talk to him, alright?" She opened her bag and started looking through it before taking out a piece of paper. She handed it to Topanga who dialed the number.

"Hello? I'm calling for the flat that is up for rent…" She listened for the person on the phone before looking at the lady and whispering, "Which one?"

"The one that is by the main street, near the mall… two bedrooms."

"The flat that is by the main street, near the mall with two bedrooms… Available? Great… can I know how much is the rent for it?" She asked with a smile on her face but was wiped off a few seconds later. "One thousand… one thousand and three hundred from deposit… one thousand for the building itself…. Um, do you have a more suitable flat? Yeah… I understand… Thank you."

Topanga hanged up and sighed with a defeated look on her face. They talked about the situation for a few more minutes before Topanga excused herself and headed to work.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Good morning." Farkle greeted the receptionist when he reached him.

"Good morning, sir."

"Did Lucas come back or call?"

"No, sir. I'm sorry."

"Okay, thank you." Farkle said with a sigh. He started walking away as he took his phone out of his pocket. "Hey, dad… Where are you now?"

"I just got out of the airport… Are there any news about Lucas?" His father said, bringing Ella's attention to him.

"No…Not yet." Farkle said with a sigh.

"Okay, son…" He said and they both hanged up after saying goodbye.

"What happened? Any news?" Ella asked concerned.

"No, honey."

"I'm starting to worry…"

"Me too… Farkle is worried too… To be honest, we're used to Lucas' sudden disappearance but… he still worries us despite being used to it."

"Farkle and Lucas aren't alike are they?"

"No… I mean the similarities between them are too little so that a person could say that the only thing they have in common is being from the same family… But they still get on together really well somehow."

"I think that's thanks to Farkle… From what I picked on, Farkle is the one who covers for Lucas and fixes things behind him all the time."

"Definitely… It wouldn't have been like that if he was his own brother."

"Farkle is really mature for his age…. You raised him well." Ella said with a smile as she took hold of his hand.

"I did everything I could… The reason why Farkle is this mature is losing his mother at a young age…. I mean… He was seven when she left. Having to accept that she left and not coming back took him a lot of time." Ella squeezed his hand more.

"I'm sure that it wasn't easy for you either."

"Well… It's all in the past now. I'm really happy with my present." He said as a smile took place on both their faces as he kissed the hand that was holding his.

* * *

 _We're gonna die… They'll kill us and throw us in the ocean where nobody will be able to find us_. That was all Riley could think about as she sat with her hands tied behind her back and her legs tied to the chair.

"This is all because of you! It was your idea to get into this stupid ship." Riley snapped as she tried to look at Lucas as much as she good, having her back against his back. "I told you that we shouldn't."

"What were we supposed to do, huh? Float in the water at night? We would've gotten to some deserted island." Lucas snapped back.

"That would've been better than the situation we're in right now."

"Oh… that means that you would've wanted to be with me on a deserted island." Lucas said with a smirk.

"Hell no! I don't even want to think about that…. Actually, I'm thanking god right now for this situation."

"That's what I thought. We've been together since last night and it feels like it has been a year already…. I didn't even sleep all night because of your snoring." _Liar. You slept so peacefully._

"Snoring? ME? I don't snore." Riley exclaimed and Lucas started mimicking snoring sounds with his mouth. The captain, who was standing across from them driving the ship, looked back at them as if they had two heads. "In my opinion, that sounds more like YOUR snoring."

"Yeah of course… Anyways, I'll close this subject so that I don't embarrass you even more…. Because we have a more important matter right now." Riley rolled her eyes at him, not that he could see anyways. "We need to get rid of those ropes quickly."

"But how?" Riley said and Lucas gave a huff out of defeat. "It's not even clear where we're heading."

"Don't talk too much and help me undo these ropes around our wrists." Since both their hands were tied behind their backs and they were sitting with their backs to each other, their hands were close to each other. Every time they tried to undo the ropes, they ended up grapping hold of each other's hands.

"I can't."

"Offf Riley!" Lucas exclaimed in frustration. "How big of a failure are you?"

"As if you're so successful. Do this on your own if you can." Riley stated before keeping her hand to her back, away from his.

"It won't work like that."

"Is there anything sharp near you?" she whispered to him, not that it mattered since the captain couldn't understand them.

"There's a small pocket knife in my pockets." Lucas whispered back.

"That's great!" Riley said happily and Lucas gave a sarcastic chuckle.

"Are you crazy, woman? What would a knife do with me?"

"How would I know? Besides, you should talk to me properly! What do you mean by crazy?"

"Okay, okay… Don't get mad."

"I'm so nervous and scared anyways…. So please don't push on my nerves more. We don't even know what will happen to us."

"There's no need to be scared, Riley… They'll probably take us to the police station or something once we reach shore." Lucas said simply.

"I can't believe how okay you seem to be."

"What do you want me to do? At least we'll be able to explain what happen to the police better and get out of this situation."

"Well… that's actually quite logical." Riley agreed with a nod.

"I'm a really logical person in reality… But getting you to understand me takes time." He teased her.

"Lucas." She warned in a sharp tone and Lucas just smiled.

"We're getting closer." Lucas said as he finally saw land.

"I wonder where we are…"

"I think we're at the Bahamas… That's good… We didn't get too far." The Captain started slowing down the ship until it stopped completely in its designed place on the harbor. He got off the ship with his apprentice and started talking to a young man on land. They looked at Lucas and Riley a few times as they talked and pointed at them. "What are they saying? I wish I knew how to speak French."

"I'm so scared… Please God help us." Riley prayed as she looked at the sky.

"Calm down, Riley…. I'm right here with you… Nobody is gonna come near you… Don't worry, I'm here." Lucas said softly in order to calm her… Which worked greatly. Riley felt most of the fear she felt leave her body as she listened to his soft voice. The guy that the captain was talking to, patted him on the back before heading onto the ship and kneeling down in front of Lucas and Riley.

"So, why are you on this ship?" Upon hearing his language, they both released a sigh of relief.

"Finally someone that would understand us." Lucas said relieved.

"Tell me and I'll translate to them." The guy said with a small smile.

"Me and my girlfriend were on a boat and we ran out of fuel…" Riley's head snapped to him as he said the world girlfriend. He said it so naturally that he himself wasn't sure why it felt natural. "Then the waves dragged us near this ship so we got on it as a shelter from the sea because our phones broke down so we couldn't call anyone…. We didn't have any intention to steal anything."

"Yeah… We didn't do us so please let us apologize to the captain so that he lets us go… Please." Riley begged and the guy nodded before going back towards the captain. They talked for a minute or two before the three of them made their way back to them.

"You're free…" Riley and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "I talked to him and explained everything…. It was hard but I managed to convince him to let you go." As he said that, the apprentice started cutting the ropes around their hands and feet.

"Thank you." Riley and Lucas said and he nodded with a smile.

"WE told him that we didn't do anything wrong." Riley stated in a matter of fact.

"You would've taught them English without a doubt if we stayed on this ship for a few days. Can't you just stop talking? You'll upset them even when they're letting us go."

"Okay, fine!" Riley snapped and got up after the guy finished untying her.

"Do you have anyone to take you?" The translator/savior asked.

"Yeah… We'll get off this ship first though." Lucas answered before holding his hand out for him to shake. "Thank you once again."

"Thanks a lot." Riley said with a smile.

"You're welcome…. You gotta be careful though… You can't possibly be this lucky every time."

"You're right." Lucas agreed as he looked at Riley.

After putting on their own clothes from last night, they got off the boat. Riley was feeling so uncomfortable because she felt so out of place with her fancy dress and heels. When they were a good distance away from the ship, she turned to Lucas and shoved his arm.

"Am I your girlfriend? You're lying to those strange men as well." She said with a glare.

"What was I supposed to say? That you broke a bottle on top of someone's head and we got on their ship while running away from him?"

"You still could've said that we're friends…. Thank god I broke a bottle on someone's head… You keep repeating that and reminding me of it." Riley said in frustration.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't know that it was a daily thing for you." Lucas said sarcastically as he looked at Riley's semi makeup free face. She had her concealer and blusher in her clutch so she reapplied it for her dark circles and the blusher to her cheeks. "You say it as if it's a normal thing."

"Well… Anyways, what are going to do now?"

"Well… Let's try and find a bank or an ATM to get some money then we'll call Farkle." He said and then looked at their clothes. "Let's also find something else to wear instead of these clothes and buy something to eat." Riley nodded and then they headed on their search for an ATM. After about ten minutes of walking, they found one and headed towards it.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"It's a good thing that you listened to me and went to the hospital…" Cathy said as the driver drove towards their house.

"I wish that I didn't listen to you in the first place… I wouldn't have gone to the hospital if I hadn't listened to you in the first place. Ever since we woke up you've been insisting on going on a morning walk… It would've been okay if we'd walked… but we ran."

"What does this have to do with anything, honey? You didn't get sick because of running. Running was just a factor. You heard the doctor… The percentage of cholesterol in your body is high… It's a good thing that we went running or else we wouldn't have known that. It could've gotten bigger without us noticing, Joseph."

"I'm in a really good condition…" Joseph stated and Cathy just huffed in frustration. "Freddie… We'll drop off Mrs. Cathy home and then we'll head to the company after I change, okay?"

"Okay, sir."

"That's not gonna happen." Cathy said sternly. "I'm not letting you go to work in this condition."

"Cathy, you're exaggerating a little. The percentage of cholesterol is a little high in my body… That's all and it's because of stress. When you pressure me like that, it stresses me even more."

"Okay, fine. I won't pressure you… But you have to promise me that you won't tire yourself out and that you'll take care of what you drink and what you eat. Promise me."

"Okay." Joseph said in a bored tone as he looked at the road ahead.

"Promise me while you're looking at me, honey." Cathy said with a smile.

"Promise." He said still looking in front of him.

"Can you look at my face while you're promising me?" Cathy said as she leaned towards him a little. He looked at her briefly before turning his head away from her. "Are you mad at me, honey?" She said sweetly and he tried to fight off a smile but couldn't.

* * *

"Let's hope that my dad didn't really freeze my bank account." Lucas told Riley as he took out his credit card from his wallet and inserted it into the ATM.

"Why would he? Did you have a fight?" Riley asked curiously.

"My relationship with my father isn't as great as you think." He said with a smile as he looked at her briefly.

"Now I'm upset… for you." Riley said with a frown.

"Ah! There's no problem!" Lucas exclaimed happily, pointing at the ATM. "My lovely mother… She must've stopped my dad from freezing my credit card." Lucas said as he took the money and the card before slipping them in his wallet then in his pocket.

"That's good." Riley said as Lucas finally turned to her.

"We'll be okay after we get rid of these clothes we're wearing. Let's go find a clothes shop." Lucas said with a smile but Riley had a curious/sad expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Why are you fighting with your father? I hope it isn't anything serious."

"Well…" Lucas trailed of as he looked down at her with the slightest of smiles.

"Don't let it upset you… You'll make up… I'm sure that he's not mad at you anymore." Riley said softly and Lucas smirked.

"You care about my feelings and got upset because of them… I can't believe this nor let it go!" Lucas teased and took a step closer, making her take a step back. "Where is the girl that was scolding and shoving me a while ago, huh? I don't see her anywhere right now."

"Treating you nicely doesn't work too." Riley said as she turned and started walking straight ahead with him beside her. "Whatever." Lucas smirked harder as he walked beside her.

A few minutes later, they found a local street that had people selling stuff on the floor. It was decorated beautifully, though.

"Maya must be so worried and my mother must've tried calling me by now. She'll break those feet I'm walking on if she ever hears about what I'm going through here." Riley whined.

"Okay… I'll call her as soon as possible then." Lucas teased with a smile.

"I can't even talk to you about anything serious for two minutes… You start making fun immediately. Do you ever take anything seriously?"

"What is there to be taken seriously?"

"What is there?" Riley asked him in disbelief. "Just look at we went and going through! But then again… It probably seems fun for you. It's fun and an adventure to you."

"I can't say that I'm bored, to be honest." Lucas told her with a smile and Riley scoffed.

"I'm the only one who's suffering anyways. I'm the one who left her house and came here for work… And look what's happening to me. How quiet and peaceful my life was before I met you!" Lucas put his hands to his ears and started singing.

"Once I was seven years old, my mama told me, go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely. Once I was seven years old…. It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger…. Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker…. By eleven smoking herb and drinking burning liquor….Never rich so we were out to make that steady figure" Once Riley heard his voice a grin took place on her face and she somehow didn't want him to stop. After he stopped singing, he took his hands away from his ears and looked at her with a glare to find her looking at him with a smile.

"You have a nice voice." Riley stated with a smile as she looked ahead of her.

"It's alright." Lucas said with a smile as he looked at the ground to hide the small blush that made its way towards his cheeks.

"I can't believe it." Riley said in disbelief as she stood in her tracks making him stop and turn to her.

"What happened?"

"You said that it's alright." She said. "I mean… You and modesty! I never thought that I'll get to see both! I'm surprised!" She stated then walked past him.

"Look at who was just talking about being serious a few minutes ago. What is this now?" Lucas said as he followed her.

"Let me have fun from time to time, will you?" Riley said with a small smile.

"Whatever… Let's get something to wear from here." He pointed at the first shop they passed by in this street and they both headed in. "Hello." He said to the young girl that was inside.

"Hello… how can I help you?"

"Can I use your telephone?" Lucas asked and she nodded so he turned to Riley. "You go find something for you to wear… I'm sure you're not comfortable in this revealing dress so find something to wear while I call Farkle."

"Okay." Riley said with a smile before she headed into the clothes section in the shop. Lucas dialed the number and it rang a few times.

"Hello, Farkle! It me."

"Lucas? Where the hell are you? I was calling the police right now!" Farkle exclaimed as he walked along the beach.

"Don't even ask. It's a long story… I dropped my phone into the water so that's why I couldn't call you. I'm calling you from a shop right now. Anyways, we're alright and Riley is with me… We're in the Bahamas so send us someone to take us."

"Bahamas? How and why the hell did you go there?"

"We had to run away from the party and we used the lifeboat then we ran out of fuel and got stuck in the ocean."

"What?!"

"What happened after that is worse…. We had to get into a ship and when the owners got back this morning they thought we were thieves and we couldn't even explain because they were French…. Anyway, I'll tell you the rest later because I have to hang up now. We'll wait by the harbor…"

"Okay… A ship will be there for you in two and a half hours." Farkle said and hanged up, finally relieved. He then dialed his father to inform him that they found Lucas.

Meanwhile, Riley came out of the dressing room with a black and white knee length romper on with black flats. She made her way towards the mirror where she found a big hat and put it on just as Lucas made his way into the clothes area, dressed in a bright orange polo shirt along with blue tropical swim trunks.

"How do I look?" She said as she turned towards him with a smile.

"You reminded me of my mother." Lucas said with a smirk making Riley glare at him.

"You're annoying. Looking at the color of the shirt your wearing first… You insist on attracting attention." Riley said in annoyance.

"Oh honey I don't need these kind of stuff to grab attention…" Lucas said with a smirk as he looked over his shoulder at the sales assistant who was literally drooling over him. Riley looked at her then back at him before turning to the mirror then into the dressing room.

She came out a few minutes later with a white t-shirt that had a little wave and a few palm trees in blue on it with the words 'It's better in the Bahamas' written on it in dark blue as well, paired with a pair of light blue jean shorts and a white converse. She stood in front of the mirror and fixed her, now beachy-wavy, hair to her liking. She turned around with a smirk on her face as she saw that Lucas changed his clothes.

"Ohh… Jealous much? You're copying me now." Riley teased and he gave a huff as he looked at their matching t-shirts. He paired it with knee-length light blue shorts that matched the shade of Riley's and a pair of white converse as well.

"As if I saw what you were wearing." Lucas told her with a glare. She glared back at him before taking her folder dress along with his folded clothes in one hand and her shoes and clutch in the other. She then followed him out and place everything on the counter and the girl put them in two separate bags with her. "We'll probably get in the ocean while waiting for the ship to arrive."

Riley looked around the place as he chose a pair of lime green swim trunks. She seemed oblivious when he turned to her and looked at her breasts before looking back at the bikini tops in front of him.

"You're a B-cup, aren't you? 34B or 36B?" Lucas asked her while still looking at her breasts and Riley's eyes' widened as she realized what he meant. He turned back to the bikinis once again and took the first one that he thought was her size. It was an ice green wrap around bikini top with the matching bottoms that had cutouts on the hips. "That'll fit you."

Riley hit his arm as she glared at him.

"Could you maybe not hit me anymore?" He exclaimed as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Then talk to me properly… That's inappropriate."

"What did I say?" Riley just looked at him suddenly and he rubbed his shoulder some more. "You're thin and petite but you hit hard."

"You deserved it." She said before snatching the bikini out of his hands and going to look through them before realizing that it was the only one in her size. Lucas started paying for their stuff as she looked at the matching Bahamas bag of her shirt.

"Give it to me… Let's buy it as well." Lucas said with a smile as he saw her admiring it. She smiled at him as she took excitedly and gave it to him along with the bikini and a cover up dress to wear over it to pay for them. They paid for everything and Riley put her dress and bikini into her Bahamas bag as Lucas held the rest in his hands. "I'm as hungry as a wolf who hasn't been fed in years." He said when they were out of the shop.

"I'm so hungry as well." Riley agreed.

"We deserve some delicious food." Lucas said as he looked at her with a smile.

"Yeah…" She smiled back at him and they continued walking with content smiles on their faces.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"What is he doing in the Bahamas, for God's sake?" Ella wondered.

"It's Lucas…. You can never understand what he's doing." Minkus said with a chuckle.

"Yeah well… at least we finally heard from him and he's alright."

"Well… since there isn't much of a problem now… how about we have a little change of plans?" Minkus said as he leaned towards her a little. "How about…. Spending the day together? Just you and me."

"I don't know… That seems good." Ella said as she faced him in her seat.

"Does that mean okay?" Minkus asked as he took hold of her hand and she giggled.

"Okay."

"For the first time, Lucas helped me."

"But… what are we going to do? Where are we going to go as well? We can't risk it." Ella said and sat back in her seat.

"Don't worry… I have an idea." Minkus told her with a smile that wiped the frown from her face and made her smile instead.

"Really? What is it?"

"It's a surprise." She giggled and he wrapped an arm around her and that was how they stayed for the rest of the car ride.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Kayli jumped into the indoors pool that the hotel's gym offered and did a few laps to distract herself and keep her mind of the things that has happened the night before. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Farkle entering the area so she swam back to the other end of the pool, towards him.

"Lucas called." He said with a smile and a smile took place on Kayli's face as well.

"Finally!" She exclaimed happily. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He's okay… He's at the Bahamas."

"WHAT?!" She grabbed the pool's ladder and made her way out of the pool as Farkle got her a towel. "What is he doing there? We've been dying out of worry and he's enjoying his time at the freaking Bahamas?"

"Calm down, Kayli…. It's not the way you think." Farkle said calmly as he handed her a towel and she took it and wrapped it around her body.

"How is it then? May I know?"

"I don't know the whole story too… From what I know, he had to go there… Apparently something happened and he had no choice but to go there."

"I really hope that it's like that, Farkle."

"Just calm down…. I took care of everything and they'll pick him up in two hours give or take fifteen minutes…. I'm heading to the restaurant for breakfast… are you coming?" Farkle said as he started heading towards the door.

"I'll change my clothes and come as well." Farkle nodded and headed out. "We'll see how you'll explain this, Lucas."

Kayli put on her cover up then headed to her room to change and Farkle made his way into the restaurant where his sister and Ian were already waiting for him. They ordered their food and a few minutes later it arrived and they dug in.

"I wish I were able to go to the Bahamas to pick Lucas up… I've never been there before." Caitlyn said.

"We can all go some other time and spend a few days." Farkle suggested. "For now, we just need to pick Lucas up and bring him back to Miami quickly before uncle joseph hears about this."

"Okay… Dad was supposed to come, wasn't he? Why is late?"

"He must've changed his plans when he knew that we found Lucas. He sent me a text and told me that he'd be late." Farkle told them with a small smile.

"Well then, we'll wait here at the hotel." Ian spoke up with a smile.

"Alright… I'll head up to the office then." Farkle said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and bid them goodbye then headed towards the elevator. He bumped into a petit blonde that was wearing the hotel's uniform on his way to the elevator though.

"Oh… Hey." Maya said as she regained her balance.

"Hello?" Farkle said as his brows frowned in confusion.

"You probably don't recognize me but I'm Riley's friend, Maya."

"Ohh… I remember you now… You're from the bakery shop as well, right?" Farkle said as a kind smile took place on his face instead of the frown he had.

"Yeah… I can't reach Riley since she left with you yesterday… I'm so worried about her and I thought you'd at least have an idea about where she is." Maya said with a worried expression on her face.

"She was with us indeed… But a little problem happened."

"A problem happened? What happened? Is Riley okay? Please do tell if something is wrong with her."

"Please calm down… She's okay… Riley and Lucas are at the Bahamas right now but they'll be on their way back in two hours."

"Thank God! I panicked a little, I'm sorry." She said and then she felt a hand gently wrap around her wrist.

"Maya?"

"Josh…" She said as she turned to him briefly before turning back to Farkle. "Thank you so much, Farkle."

"You're welcome… Goodbye." He said with a polite smile then left.

"Is there a problem?" Josh asked with a scowl and Maya smirked.

"No, honey…"

"What happened then? He was standing to close to you. And how do you know his name, huh?"

"Are you perhaps jealous?" Maya asked playfully with a smirk.

"Jealous… No, I was just wondering." Josh said as he avoided her eyes.

"What are you doing here during your shifts?" their manager said as she made her way towards them. "Mr. Farkle is around, didn't you see him? You should be working."

"Who is Mr. Farkle?" Josh asked.

"The hotel's owner." At that both their eyes widened. "Now go back to work, please." They both nodded and hurried to continue their shifts.

So now, Kayli was getting ready in her room… Farkle was at the office, working… Maya and Josh were working as well… Then Minkus and Ella were on Minkus' yacht going somewhere that only he and the captain knew about. Everyone seems busy so let's go back to Lucas and Riley now.

They found a small restaurant and made their way inside with smiles on their faces. The waiter led them to a table and brought them their menus. They both ordered their food and he went to get it.

"Ahh! The place here is so pretty." Riley said happily as she looked around her with a grin.

"Yeah… I liked it too." Riley looked at him in confusion so he continued, "I came to the Bahamas before but this is the first time that I've ever been to this restaurant. It's designed beautifully."

Riley was about to say something but their food arrived and they both dug in. Riley's eyes rolled back when she took her first bite because of how delicious it was and Lucas watched her as he ate his food as well. On the table that was a few feet from them, there was a lady with a baby on her lap and the baby was crying very loudly. Lucas looked at their table in annoyance and huffed.

"Listen to her cries…. My head is gonna explode from it." Lucas said in annoyance and Riley looked over at the table as the waiter brought them their choice of juice. Lucas put down his fork and stopped eating.

"I wonder why she's crying this hard…" Riley wondered sadly as she looked at the little girl.

"Because she's spoiled… That's why." Lucas stated.

"She must be upset about something…" Riley said with a sad smile before she went back to eating, glancing at the girl often. She sighed before she got up and made her way to their table as Lucas watched. "What happened, baby girl? Why are you crying?" Riley asked sweetly in a somewhat of a baby voice.

"May I?" She told the mother as she held her hands out and the mother nodded. "Come here…" She told the baby who tried to be away from her. She finally took hold of her and held her in her arms. "Oh hey… Pretty eyed baby…" She used the same baby-sweet tone as she patted the girl's back as she looked in her big blue eyes. "Don't you cry, pretty baby… don't cry."

A smile creeped onto Lucas' face as he watched Riley interacting with the little baby. He didn't even notice that her cries subsided.

"It's okay, baby… It's okay." She made funny faces to the baby and she stopped crying and laughed instead. She then handed her back to her mother. "God bless her for you."

"Thank you." The mother said with a smile and Riley nodded with a smile as well before going back to her table.

"See? She just needed someone's attention." Riley said with a shrug and went back to eating. Lucas just stared at her for a little more with the same smile on his face.

"You're right." He said making her smile.

"Excuse me?" An old man asked from the table behind them and Lucas looked at him over Riley's shoulder. "Can you take a picture of us?"

"Of course, with pleasure." Lucas told him and then went over to their table. The man handed Lucas his camera before he wrapped an arm around, what Lucas assumed, his wife. It was Riley's turn to stare at Lucas with a smile on her face. "I'll take it now." Lucas informed them and took two pictures of them.

"Thank you… We can take your picture too if you'd like." The old man said as Lucas handed him his camera back. Lucas looked back at Riley as she looked into his eyes.

"Thanks for offering but we don't have a camera or our phones with us."

"I can take your picture with my camera and then send it to your e-mail." Lucas looked back at Riley who shrugged with a smile.

"Okay then, why not?" Lucas said and sat back down across from Riley and the man stood in front of their table. Riley fixed her hair and looked at the camera with a smile as well as Lucas.

"Honey? What kind of lovers are you? Hug each other!" His wife said and Riley's eyes widened with surprise but the smile was never wiped from Lucas' face. "You should use your time together wisely… You'll regret not doing so when you get old."

"What are you saying to the kids, honey?" The man said.

"No… you got it all wrong… We're just… Friends." Riley said with a nervous smile.

"Oh… I thought… No, you don't look like just friends… You look good with each other." Riley looked at Lucas with a blush on her face. "You'll get married."

"That would be the death of me, Mrs.…" Lucas teased sarcastically and Riley looked back at him with a glare.

"Yeah… We're not that big fans of each other." Riley told the lady.

"Me and my husband were just like you when we first knew each other… We always bickered but look at us now… We've been together for thirty years now." Riley looked back at Lucas who still had a smile on his face and she smiled slightly.

"I don't even know how we survived this long with each other." The man told them in a loud whisper.

"I can hear you." His wife said making Lucas and Riley laugh out loud. The man took the opportunity and took a couple of pictures of them laughing because no picture comes out prettier than the one with a real, heartfelt laugh/smile in it. The both then looked at the camera and he took another picture of them. Lucas thanked him and gave him his e-mail address and the man promised to e-mail the pictures to him when he gets the chance.

Riley and Lucas went back to their food and finished it. Lucas paid and they bid goodbye to the old couple and the little baby before leaving, heading to the beach that the restaurant was near. They changed in the changing rooms into their swimwear and Riley slipped the cover up over her bikini and tied her hair up into a messy bun. They got out of the changing rooms and sat down on the sand near the water.

There was a few people swimming in the ocean in front of them and Riley looked at them in awe. Lucas noticed the way she was looking at them and shook his head.

"It won't work that way. C'mon get up." Lucas told her as he pushed himself up and gave her a hand.

"What? Where are we going?" Riley asked in confusion from her place on the sand.

"Into the water…. I'll teach you how to swim." Lucas said and grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"No, Lucas… I don't know how to swim." She protested as he pulled her towards the water.

"That's why I'll teach you… C'mon." Riley hesitated before taking off her cover up and putting on the sand beside their bags. Lucas tried not to look at her body in the bikini that complimented her skin tone really well.

"Let's go in until the water is up to our knees then get back out, can we?" Riley said as she clutched his arm.

"Riley… trust me… I won't let go of you, I promise." Lucas told her softly and she looked up at him. "All I want you to do is relax, okay?" Riley nodded and he started pulling her in once again but she clutched his arm harder. "Riley… I promised… Nothing will happen to you."

"Okay… But don't you dare even think about doing anything funny, okay?" Lucas nodded and they headed into the water. The water went up to Lucas' belly button and right under Riley's breasts when Riley clutched both of his arms. "Okay, that's enough."

"Okay, we won't go any deeper." Lucas told her as he faced her. "Now, grab onto me and lift your feet off the ground. Relax your body as if you're lying on a bed, okay?"

"I can't have my feet on the ground?" Riley asked worriedly.

"No… that's called walking and not swimming."

"Logical." Riley said with a nod before she put both hands on his shoulders.

"Look… Relax and just hug me. I will grab you from your waist and you just don't panic okay?" Lucas told her in a calm tone to calm her a bit. "The water will lift you up anyways."

"Saying that is easy but actually doing it is hard." She said before she wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her bridal style in the water. Once he'd lifted her feet of the ground and felt her relax against him, he let go of her legs slowly and that was when she panicked and almost fell into water but managed to get the back of her head and her back wet.

"I ALMOST DROWNED, OH MY GOD LUCAS!" Riley screamed as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

"I don't know about you but I'll drown anyways if you don't loosen up your grip!" Lucas told her in panic. He took hold of waist and brought her feet back to the ground.

"Where did you get the whole 'I'll teach you how to swim' thing from? I'm okay without knowing how to swim!"

"You're this old and you haven't learned how to swim, Riley!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Maybe I had to go through something that stopped me from learning, Lucas." Riley said in a small voice as she looked up at him. "I was about to die when I was five… I went into the sea by myself and got in too deep and I almost drowned to death. My father swooped in last minute and saved my life… They tried to get me to learn how to swim later but after that incidence I developed a fear of oceans and pools."

"Okay… You're a big girl now, Riles… I'm right here, don't be scared." Lucas told her softly.

"You called me Riles…"

"If you don't want me to call you that, I won't… It slipped."

"No, it's fine…"

"Okay now relax… C'mon." he said and she nodded. He took hold of her waist and made her lay down on the water while he held her up by her waist and legs. She started moving her legs into the water. "See? You're doing it!"

"I really did it! I can swim!" She exclaimed happily.

"I wouldn't say that you can swim just yet. You have to learn a few things first."

"Okay, I'm ready." She said and Lucas watched her moving her arms and legs into the water for a few minutes before she jumped with a scream and went back to wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "SOMETHING TOUCHED MY FEET!" Lucas' face was right in front of her chest, and while at any other time he would've been uncomfortable as hell, right now he only cared about not falling into the water with the force she's using.

"It's probably a fish, Riley!" He said with his hands on her waist keeping her still.

"Please get me out! That's too much for me, Lucas." Riley cried.

"Okay, okay… Let's get out. Just get your feet on the ground first." He said as he slowly tried to get her off of him.

"Just don't let me go, Lucas!" She exclaimed and Lucas stopped what he was doing and laughed out loud. He was laughing harder than Riley ever saw him laugh and she found herself forgetting everything as she looked at him while he's laughing. She liked the sound of his laugh.

"Riley… That's very hard to do with you stuck to me like that." He said through his laughter as he looked up at her and she couldn't fight off her smile.

"Okay… Sorry." She said and got off of him. He dragged her out of the water and back towards their things.

"We only have an hour left until the boat arrives so let's take our time with heading to the harbor, alright?" Lucas told her as he watched her putting on her cover up again. They headed towards the changing room after Riley gave a nod and gathered their stuff. They put their clothes back on and Riley fixed her hair and the little makeup she had on before heading out to find Lucas waiting for her.

They smiled at each other before walking together towards the harbor. When they neared it, Riley found a girl with three guys and a girl behind her singing 'Can't feel my face' by the weekend.

"I love this song… Let's go watch them, please." Riley told Lucas. "Oh isn't that Megan Nicole from youtube? I love her!"

"They're playing beautifully. Let's get closer." Lucas told her and they joined the small group of people that were already gathered around the singer and her band. She had one guy playing the guitar and another one playing acoustic drums and a large speaker for the rest of the music while the other guy and girl danced around. The guy that was dancing was wearing a pair of orange shorts and a tropical button up. Riley and Lucas were lucky as she had just started the song.

" **But at least we'll both be beautiful**

 **And stay forever young, this I know, this I know**

 **He told me "Don't worry about it"**

 **He told me "Don't worry no more"**

 **We both know we can't go without it**

 **He told me "You'll never be in love"**

They guy that was dancing clapped his hands to the beat making everyone around them do the same. Lucas looked at Riley with a grin on his face that Riley returned as they both clapped their hands. The dancer went to Riley and pulled her into the 'dance floor' with him. She dropped her bag on the floor beside Lucas and went with guy who danced with her to the song.

" **I can't feel my face when I'm with you**

 **But I love it, but I love it**

 **I can't feel my face when I'm with you**

 **But I love it, but I love it"**

Riley kept dancing around with a big smile on her face as she clapped her hands with the chorus. Lucas watched her with a smile on his face. She was dancing around happily without a care in the world. Lucas stared at her some more as she twirled around with a big smile, her hair twirling with her. He felt a warm feeling in his heart as he watched her and he put a hand to his heart to find it beating fast. _Why is it beating so fast? It can't be because of her… can it?_ Lucas thought to himself and shook his head to clear his mind.

" **And I know he'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb  
And he'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come  
All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love  
This I know, yes I know"**

The song was coming to an end and Riley looked at Lucas and motion for him to join her. He shook his head as if to say 'never' and she stared at him with a scowl before going back to dancing with the chorus.

" **He told me "Don't worry about it"**

 **He told me "Don't worry no more"**

 **We both know we can't go without it**

 **He told me "You'll never be in love"**

 **I can't feel my face when I'm with you**

 **But I love it, but I love it**

 **I can't feel my face when I'm with you**

 **But I love it, but I love it"**

The song came to an ending and so did Riley's dancing and she clapped her hands for them along with everybody else.

"Hey." Riley said happily as she jumped in front of the singer.

"Hey." Megan said with a smile and Riley hugged her, surprising her.

"I'm a big fan of yours." Riley said with a smile when she pulled away.

"Thank you so much."

"What are you doing here though?"

"We're doing a little show here tonight… We're waiting for you on our boat tonight." The singer said with a smile.

"Okay… good luck." Riley said and hugged her, surprising her once again. She pulled away and went back to Lucas after taking a picture with her.

"Woah… That means that there _is_ something that you can do." Lucas teased as she bent down to get her bag.

"Thank you… I'll accept this as a compliment." Riley answered with a smile.

"The boat will arrive soon… Let's sit there where we can see it." He pointed at a wooden bench a few steps away from them and Riley nodded before they both headed towards it.

"Ohh… I didn't call my mum… She must be so worried right now." Riley suddenly remembered and frowned.

"Do you live with your family?" Lucas asked her with a smile, aiming to take her mind off of her worries.

"Yeah… I live with my mum."

"What about your father?" The smile that was on Riley's face turned into a sad one.

"He passed away when I was thirteen."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" To be honest, Lucas didn't know what to say instead of that. "Wasn't it hard? How did it happen?"

"My dad was a middle school history teacher… he went on a school trip with our class…. Some student thought it would be funny to stand on the very edge of a twenty floor building and my father went to stop him… But ended up falling instead of him. He died instantly due to the impact on his head." Riley replied looking at the ground in sadness. "He's probably the best history teacher I've ever had. Even though I didn't spend much time as his student… he taught me everything I know about life, right now."

"You have seen it all, didn't you? The fall I mean..."

"Yeah… I think that was the second worst part. For a few years, I kept getting nightmares of that scene over and over again… I couldn't get the image of him lying on the ground with blood around his head out of my dreams... for years." Riley said and a few tears fell from her eyes but she was quick to wipe them.

"It must've been hard on you."

"Yeah… Losing someone that you love is pretty hard… Especially if it was a family member."

"Yeah… It's really hard. I know how it feels." Riley's head turned towards him when he said that. "I lost my grandmother three summers ago. She was very important to me… She was closer to me than anyone else, even my mother… I could say that she's the one that raised me. You may not believe this but I grew up in a country in Texas when I was a kid."

"I would never believe that." Riley stated with a smile and he chuckled.

"No, really… It was my grandfather's country."

"Okay… Now I believe you. How long did you live there?"

"Until I was eleven… I lived with grandmother through elementary school then came back to LA for middle school. If it were for my grandma though, I'm sure she wouldn't have let me leave her and now I kind of wish that I hadn't."

"Were you parents busy working?"

"Yeah… My dad would always go abroad for his work and to check on his companies and my mum would go with him… some trips lasted longer than others so I just stayed with my grandma… These were the best times in my life. I never felt lonely with her and I never felt sad as well."

"Do you still go there?" Riley asked in curiosity.

"I did for a few years after I left… I'd go and spend my summer with her and help with the farm and stuff but then I stopped going as I started high school… the last time I went there was the summer she died… right before her death. I can't go back now either… it brings back memories that now make me miss her so much more." Lucas sighed before looking at Riley for the first time since he started talking. "Can I confess to you about something?"

"Yeah…" Riley said as she nodded her head a few times and Lucas took a deep breath before talking.

"I couldn't even go to her funeral… and I couldn't visit her grave even once in the past three years…" Riley stared into his eyes and she saw the emotions in them, emotions that she knew hers mirrored.

"Why…?"

"I don't know… I guess I'm not able to accept her death until now." Riley just stared at him with an expression that he never saw on her face before. "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked with the slightest of smiles.

"I don't know… I guess I'm just surprised."

"Why?" He wondered softly, "I have a heart and feelings too, Riles… Even if I don't show it much." A small smile made its way on Riley's face.

"Yeah… I figured." She said teasing a little making him smile.

"Can I tell you something else?" Lucas asked hesitantly and Riley nodded. "The reason why I've been enjoying these adventures is… They bring me the excitement and thrill that I used to get when I was living with my grandma. They make me feel alive… And believe it or not… I haven't felt alive in a while."

Riley just blushed at his words and smiled at him. He didn't need an answer from her anyways so he smiled back at her as they continued to wait for the boat in comfortable silence.

* * *

Farkle, Caitlyn and Ian were sitting in one of the tented areas on the pool laughing at something that Ian said when Caitlyn spotted Kayli coming their way. She had a black monokini on and a cardigan like cover up on top and a pair of sunglasses along with a hat.

"Off here comes the fashionista… No wonder she took an hour or more to get ready." Caitlyn said noticing her perfectly done makeup.

"Don't let her hear you, Cait… or else you'll never hear the end of it." Caitlyn nodded agreeing to her brother's words. "Hey, Kayli."

"Your man finally appeared." Ian joked and Caitlyn kept sipping on her juice in silence. She doesn't like her much in case you haven't noticed.

"Yeah… It has almost been twenty four hours since I'd arrived and I didn't see his face until now."

"They're on their way back now." Farkle said without noticing his words.

"What do you mean by 'they'?" Kayli asked suspiciously.

"Lucas, the captain and his crew." Farkle said calmly.

"Hmmm… Coming to think of it… Your girlfriend hadn't made an appearance since last night as well, Farkle." Kayli said. "Or did you perhaps break up already?"

"Oh yeah… Where is the girl, brother?" Caitlyn asked.

"What break up are you talking about, Kayli? Don't worry guys… I'll introduce her to you today… She just likes to sleep in then head to the gym first thing when she wakes up." Farkle said with a calm tone but inside he was nervous as hell.

"We'll see." Kayli said with a tight smile.

"I'll head to the harbor now to pick Lucas up from there." Farkle announced and stood up.

"Wait I'll come with you." Ian said.

"Me too!" Caitlyn said hurriedly.

"What kind of picking up is that? He doesn't need a team to pick him up." Kayli said.

"I'll stay if you're going… I just said that so that Farkle doesn't go alone." Ian said sitting back down.

"I'll stay too." Caitlyn said.

"Okay then, let's go." Kayli said before taking her bag and getting up. She went up to her room as Farkle went to get the car as she threw a white romper over her swimsuit and ditched the hat. With that, they both headed to the harbor.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"It was a very nice day despite all the bad things that happened." Riley said with a content smile as the yacht came to a stop, back in Miami. Lucas looked at her and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her smile.

"That's what I think a well." He said and she sighed in content as she looked ahead of her while he stared at her. The captain made his way towards them.

"Mr. Lucas… Mr. Farkle sent you a text message on my phone." He said before handing Lucas the phone.

' _I'm coming with Kayli to pick you up… she thinks that you're alone and she's very suspicious. She's also suspicious about the whole Riley/girlfriend thing… I think she understands everything so be careful.'_ That was what the text said.

Lucas handed the phone back to the captain and thanked him.

"That's bad…" Lucas mumbled to himself but Riley heard him.

"Oh how I wish that nothing bad happens for just a few hours." Riley exclaimed with a frown.

"It doesn't have anything to do with you this time… Kayli probably understood the entire thing by now. Of course when she didn't see Farkle's girlfriend, aka you, last night or this morning, she got suspicious."

"Let's just say that we broke up then." Riley said and went back to hugging her knees to her chest and looking ahead.

"What break up are you talking about, Riley? She'll suspect the whole thing even more if we said that… I'll get off the yacht first and you wait here… Then you'll leave after we're gone." Lucas told her and reached into his pocket and took his wallet out. Riley looked at him as she sat cross-legged now. He took a fifty dollar bill and pushed it her way. "Take a taxi and head back to the hotel."

Riley looked at the money with narrowed eyes as she felt her anger boiling up.

"Do you have any more orders for me, Mr. Lucas?" She said as she narrowed her eyes more. "You made me into a complete slave! Do this, do that… Excuse me but I'm not available right now. I won't be a fucking tool in your childish games."

"You can't do that! You promised me!"

"That was for last night only." Riley snapped.

"C'mon please cover for me today as well… I'll help you get your job back." Lucas told her.

"Oh Thank you… As if you're giving me a philanthropy… You're so used to buying everything with your money! But this is different Lucas! I don't even want the stupid job!" She snapped and looked away from him while he slipped the money back in his pocket.

"What happened to you? Just a few minutes ago you were saying that this was such a nice day." Riley looked at him briefly before looking away and huffing while Lucas smirked. "Wait a minute… Are you jealous over me?" She looked at him with wide eyes before snapping.

"Why would I be jealous over you, huh? Who do you think you are to make me jealous?" Riley snapped and Lucas kept staring at her with a smirk. "I won't turn around and spare you a single look even if you were the last man on this earth. You're such an arrogant, self-centered, annoy-" Riley was suddenly cut off and her eyes widened in surprise as she realized what's happening.

Lucas grabbed the back of her head and pulled her towards him, quickly shutting her up as his lips smashed onto hers. Riley's eyes closed and she lost herself into the kiss and did what she never thought she would…

She kissed him back without even realizing it.

The only thought running through their minds was,

 _What the hell am I doing?_

* * *

 **AHHH RUCAS KISS!**

 **How I wish they kiss again on the show already.**

 **So 12k... Longest chapter so far and one of my favorites as well. Like I promised, you saw a different side to Lucas this chapter and I guess you saw a little bit of their feelings as well. Let's not forget that you finally know how Mr. Mathews died... It pains me to make him dead in the story but if he wasn't, then Rucas wouldn't have met probably.**

 **What do you think will happen next? Why do you think Lucas kissed her? What do you think Riley will do when they pull away? What do you Topanga will do with the whole house issue?**

 **Just tell me what you think will happen next in general lol. Also, I'm sorry for any typos but I can barely open my eyes so I couldn't check for any mistakes except through the first half of the chapter.**

 **I'm gonna keep this short so don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	12. Chapter 12: It's over!

"Look, I'll talk to her okay? I'm sure she won't object… Mrs. Friar is a kind hearted lady." Katy told Topanga reassuringly. "I'll talk to her first and explain your situation to her… She'll ask for you if it's necessary. Don't worry, okay?" Topanga nodded with a small smile.

"Okay." With that, Katy got up from the kitchen table and made her way towards the living room where Cathy was munching on some veggies.

"Mrs. Friar, do you have a minute?" Katy asked, bringing her attention away from the cooking show she was watching on her iPad.

"Yeah, is something wrong?"

"Um… Topanga has a problem and I thought that you could help her with it."

"Really? What's wrong?" Cathy asked worriedly.

"Topanga was asked to leave the house that she lives in with her daughter, as soon as possible. She searched for a house but she couldn't find any with suitable rents… um I was thinking if you could allow her to live at the penthouse that's connected to this one… at least until she finds a place to move into."

"Topanga has a daughter? How old is she?" Cathy asked in a more worried tone.

"She's twenty…"

"No, Katy!" Cathy said sternly, "I don't want the presence of a young girl in my house…. I mean if it was your daughter we're talking about then its fine… she grew up with us anyways…. But another young girl? I'd rather not have her here."

"I know, Mrs. Cathy…. But Topanga's daughter lives outside of LA as of right now and she won't be back until summer is over…. By then, Topanga would have found a house already and moved out of here." Katy explained hoping to change Cathy's mind.

"Well if it's that way then okay, she can live here." Cathy said after thinking about Katy's words.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Cathy!" Katy said happily. "Oh and by the way…. Is there empty space in the storage garage where she could put her furniture in? She doesn't have much because her house was small anyways."

"You can check if there is… if so then you can use it however you want." Cathy told her with a smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cathy… Would you like to talk to Topanga first? Should I call her for you?"

"No need for that…. You explain to her everything. Especially the situation concerning her daughter, it would be better if you tell her that privately."

"Of course, Mrs. Cathy. Excuse me…" Katy said and Cathy nodded so she headed back into the kitchen. Upon seeing her, Topanga stood up and hurriedly made her way towards her.

"How did it go?" She asked hurriedly and Katy gave her a smile.

"How else would it go? She said okay!" Katy told her and Topanga hugged her out of happiness.

"Oh thank god!" Topanga said in relief.

"Come on, let's get you moving into the penthouse as soon as possible." Katy said and Topanga nodded, agreeing.

* * *

Riley couldn't understand what was happening. Why was he kissing her? Why was she kissing back? Why did it feel good? Why were his lips so soft?

 _Oh wait a minute… I'm kissing Lucas! The Jackass! HELL NO!_ She thought to herself, coming back to her senses even though they'd been kissing for a few second, barely a minute. With all her power, she pushed him away from her. She had to struggle for a bit because of the hold he had on the back of head but she eventually managed to push him away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She said furiously as she roughly wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "How could you kiss me, you idiot?"

"Oh, I didn't kiss you… I just closed your mouth because you were talking too much." Lucas said with a smirk as he leaned back using his arm for support but internally, he himself was wondering why he kissed her. Yes, at first he just wanted her to shut up and since she was so close to him, he just did it. Then he didn't want to pull away, he didn't even intend on actually kissing her! He planned on just putting his lips on her to shut her up. A little part of him knew that he did it to shake away everything he was feeling because of her. He didn't want to listen to that part though.

Riley looked at him angrily before she started hitting his chest with her fists. "What kind of human being are you, you stupid jerk?!"

Lucas grabbed hold of her fists and pulled her close to him, their lips a few inches apart. He looked at her lips as he spoke huskily, "Oh, would you look at that? You're talking too much again." Riley gulped as her eyes fell to his lips as well as he moved a little closer to her lips before she yanked her wrists away from him and faced forward with a huff as he smirked. His smirk slowly turned into a grin before he casually looked behind them to find a girl with a white romper watching through her lowered sunglasses as she stood beside a white car.

Lucas knew that she didn't see what had happened because from her place, she could only see half his back. "They're here." He said before getting up with his bag of clothes as Riley looked at him. "I'll go now… We'll meet at the hotel."

"He's still saying that we'll meet at the hotel until now!" Riley snapped angrily. "Can't what you have left of a mind get it? It's over! Our deal is over!"

Lucas opened his mouth to say something but he noticed Kayli closing the car door and walking towards the yacht so he sighed before leaving, frustrating Riley even more.

"Of course he doesn't have anything to say…. Stupid jerk." She mumbled to herself. She looked behind her to watch him. She watched as he made his way to his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. She looked at him in disgust as he kissed her before she wiped her lips furiously once again.

Her disgusted expression changed into a soft smile as Farkle got out of the car dressed in a white V-neck with an unbuttoned red flannel shirt and blue jean shorts paired with a pair of dark blue vans.

"Love… Are you okay?" Kayli asked in a worried tone as she hugged Lucas.

"I'm okay, babe." Lucas told her as he rubbed her back. "I missed you."

"Me too… I was worried to death, Lucas." She said as she pulled away. "Where were you?"

"I'll tell you everything on our way to the hotel, babe." Lucas told her as Farkle approached them, "You get into the car and we'll see what we'll do with the yacht and head back." She nodded before heading back to the car and getting in. Lucas waited until she was in the car before taking Farkle and moving towards the Yacht to make Kayli believe they're talking about it.

"What happened, Cousin? Why were you in the Bahamas?"

"It's a long story, Farkle… I'll tell you everything later but right now we have a bigger problem." Lucas said and Farkle looked at him in confusion so he continued. "Riley is a little shaken up from what had happened since last night so she canceled our deal… but you're the one who's gonna convince her." Farkle took off his sunglasses to look at his cousin better. "Head back to the hotel together… that will be an opportunity for you to get know each a little bit as well."

Farkle didn't look too happy about having to be in Lucas' game again so Lucas went on, "You know Kayli… If she suspects something, I'll never hear the end of her questions."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Friar… Do you have any more orders for me?" Farkle said sarcastically, "What the hell is this, Luke? What do you think I am?"

"You're my life saver, cousin." Lucas told him with a smile and Farkle shook his head at him.

"I'm sick of having to fix everything behind you… I'm sorry but I'm not gonna help you anymore. You're on your own from here, Lucas." Farkle said sternly.

"Please, Farkle." Farkle shook his head at Lucas plead. "I promise you that this will be the last time… I won't ask you to cover for me again…. Just this once please!" Lucas pleaded.

Farkle huffed before pointing a threatening finger at Lucas, "But this is the last time, okay? Don't forget that."

"Okay… I won't." Lucas said with a smile before patting his shoulder and heading to the car as Farkle put his glasses back on and headed towards the yacht. Riley turned away as she tried to fix her hair that was now pulled up into a messy bun and waited for Farkle.

"Why did you come so fast?" Kayli asked as Lucas got into the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"Farkle is gonna take care of it… I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, babe. You've waited for long enough." Lucas told her before pecking her lips then starting the car and driving away.

Riley stood up and hopped down the thing they were sitting on as Farkle got into the yacht. "Riley… Are you okay? We were so worried about you two."

"We're okay… There isn't something that hadn't happened to us though… but thank god, we're back safely." Farkle looked behind them briefly and found that Lucas had just started driving away.

"Let's not go behind them right away…. Let's sit and have a drink while you tell me what happened, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah…" Riley said with a nod before remembering her shopping bag and Bahama's bag. "My bags…" She said to herself before leaning over the thing she was sitting on and snatching the bags then putting the Bahama's one around her shoulder using the shoulder strap.

"Let me hold them for you." Farkle told her with a smile as he extended his hand towards her.

"No need…" Riley said in surprise but he shook his head and extended his hand more so she handed him the two bags then he moved out of her way motioning for her to go in front of him. "Thank you." Riley said with a smile as she passed him

* * *

Minkus and Ella were still at the yacht but with their swimsuits on having change a while ago. They were sitting near the stairs that lead towards the ocean with fresh drinks.

"Being here really made my mood better." Ella said with a content smile, "It feels like even my soul is relaxed."

"Perfect… We could extend our vacation as much as you want." Minkus told her with a smile.

"It's such a great offer but this small vacation had to be squeezed into my schedule."

"Do you have to work this much?"

"Unfortunately, It's out of my control" She said sadly. "You know how hectic work life could be… You can't say 'no that's enough'… you have to finish a certain thing in a certain amount of time…it's especially hard when you don't have that many people around you that you trust with your work… Which is the case for me."

"You're right." Minkus told her as he rubbed her arm while she took a sip of her orange juice.

"But I'm not complaining at all… I worked really hard in order to see my company in the place it's in right now… So it's all worth it."

"You'll see better days… _We'll_ see." Minkus promised making her smile. "Enough talking about work though… Do you want to get into the water for a little bit?" She nodded and they both got up. She took off her cover up to reveal her purple bikini and he took off the button up he had on before wrapping an arm around her from behind and kissing her cheek and neck. She turned around and they shared a few more steamy kisses.

Unbeknown to them, a ship that was in the ocean not far from them, had a photographer on it who took pictures of their every move ever since they stood up. "That'll be the bomb of the week!" He said before grapping his phone and dialing a number. "Hello? I have pictures that are like a major bomb… JM's company owner, Minkus Friar, and Diamond's cosmetic company owner, Ella Rose Marin, are on a yacht together right now and they're look a little bit more than friendly."

"Good job. Send the pictures to my e-mail address quickly." The girl on the other end said and he hanged up after agreeing to do so.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMGMWGMW** *

"What you went through is like a nightmare, love." Kayli said after Lucas finished telling her what had happened, leaving out everything that concerned Riley being with him. To her, he was alone.

"Yeah… Anything could've happened to me… I barely survived." He said as he looked at the car's mirrors to observe the road. "Anyways, it's over now so let's just forget it… What did you do?"

"I was so bored of course." She said with a huff. "I mean you know Caitlyn isn't really sociable… And I didn't meet Riley… She was tired last night and this morning she slept in. or something like that. I think she's a little spoiled, to be honest." Lucas smirked.

"She _is_ a little weird." Lucas said and Kayli looked at him. "It would be good if you don't get too close to her."

"But we will all be together today, most likely."

"Yeah… Um we'll do something together today." Lucas stumbled slightly as he spoke, praying silently that Farkle will be able to convince her.

"But don't leave me alone from now on, is that possible?"

"Okay, babe… I won't." Lucas said with a smile then Kayli's phone rang.

"It's your mother."

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Lucas panicked a little.

"Of course I didn't." She said as a matter of fact before answering. "Hello, Cathy."

"Hey, honey… how are you?" Cathy said into the phone as her driver drove her towards the company.

"I'm okay and you?"

"I'm okay as well, honey… We can't reach Lucas once again so I was wondering if you two are together."

"Yeah, he's right beside me… I'll put you on speaker."

"Hey, mum." Lucas said into the phone that Kayli held between them.

"Son, you left and didn't give me any news… a person calls, Lucas." At that Lucas and Kayli laughed silently. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm okay, mum… I just dropped my phone into the water so I'm gonna buy a new one when we head back… I'm currently driving so I'll call you when I can."

"Okay, honey… But actually call and don't forget, huh? Enjoy your day, goodbye." She said before hanging up.

"Of course she got worried." Kayli said before looking out the window. Lucas looked at her with a grin before looking away and breathing a sigh of relief that she's not suspicious anymore.

The driver opened the door for Cathy and handed her the bag of food that she'd left on the passenger seat. "You don't need to wait, Shawn. I'll go back home with Joseph."

"Okay, Ma'am." Shawn told her with a nod before getting into the car and drove away once she was out of sight.

"I'm here, baby…" Cathy announced after she opened his office door and got in. Upon seeing her, he got up and hugged her before pecking her lips. "How are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay now that you're here, honey." He said as he pecked her lips once again. They both sat down and she took out the two lunch boxes from the bag she had with her. "What is this?"

"It's our lunch… I thought we should have lunch together."

"You brought food from home? Why did you bother with it? We could've gone to a restaurant." Joseph said but it was like she didn't hear him. "Anyways, I'm really hungry." That brought her attention to him and she looked at him with a smile as she handed him his lunch box.

"I came on time then, honey." Joseph just looked at the contents of the box through the clear cab before glancing at Cathy then back at the container. It contained a few slices of cucumber, peppers, carrots, and tomatoes with a little piece of steak that you could eat in one bit.

"Are we eating that?" He wondered out loud and Cathy nodded, "This can't fill me up, Cathy."

"We're following a diet, baby." Cathy told him with a smile.

"Cathy… _You're_ following a diet… I don't have any problem with the way I've been eating." Joseph told her with a huff.

"But I have one, Joseph…. We promised each other that we'll do everything together." He looked at her before silently swiveling his chair towards her end of the table. "Ahh… I forgot to bring forks."

"Okay, I'll ask for forks, then." He said before calling his secretary through his office telephone. "Can you bring us two forks?" He said as he looked at Cathy who smiled guiltily.

* * *

"And that's how it all went." Riley said finishing the events of last night and this morning. She took a sip of her mango juice. Mango juice was her favorite fresh juice. They were sitting at a café near the yachts' harbor.

"It's like a movie… Actually, going through all that while you're with Lucas is a very natural thing. He really likes to put himself through trouble." Farkle told her with a smile before taking a sip of his lemonade.

"Yeah… I figured that much through the past couple of days." Riley said with a smile before it turned into a frown. "That's why I can't go on with this… I mean… I don't want to be a part of this lie. What happened yesterday was probably a message from God that I should just get out of it when I still can."

"It's only natural for you to think that way after you went through with Lucas so far… But I'm apologizing to you instead of Lucas… If you can just put up with it for just one more day.."

"I really-"

"I promise you that Lucas won't cause you any more trouble… because I won't take my eyes off of you." Riley's frown softened a little. "If you can put up with this for just one more day…" Farkle trailed off and Riley finally gave a nod of her approval. "Well… since we're gonna act like you're my girlfriend, we should get to know each other more. I mean… I don't know anything about you except that you make really delicious cakes." He told her with a grin making her smile shyly.

"Well, I'm Riley Mathews… I just turned twenty and I live with my mum in LA… My dad passed away when I was thirteen so it's just me and my mum now…. My best friend and I came to Miami for work…"

"I'm sorry about your loss…" Riley gave him a small smile. "Um… Do you go to college?"

"I couldn't go to college last year because I didn't get the opportunity to… But I passed my college exams so I'll be able to go to college this year, hopefully…. What about you?"

"Well… I'm Farkle Minkus… I'm twenty-one and I live with my dad and sister in LA as well…. and I study economics. I took a year off before college so I'm starting my third one this year."

"Did you lose your mother as well?" She said and Farkle's expression turned into a sad one.

"You could say so… Um... I work with my dad and my uncle, Lucas' dad, during the summer when I don't have to go to college and I came here to manage the hotel and see if it needs any improvements."

"What do you mean by 'manage the hotel'?"

"My dad and my uncle bought this hotel a few months ago and named it Aquamarine."

"I didn't know that… it surprised me."

"Well, it's a good thing we talked about the basic stuff… Kayli is a really curious, suspicious girl… She'll want to know every little thing about us. For example, how did we first meet? What should that be?" He said and Riley thought about it for a few moments.

"I don't know…" she said as she put her elbow on the table and her head on her hand, "Nothing comes to my mind."

"I think we should think about this a little more…" Farkle said and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Riley grinned.

"Found it! Let's say that we met that way…" She began telling him her idea and he nodded while hearing her.

He gave a laugh at a certain part and Riley laughed with him then he said, "That's a great idea."

A young lady made her way into the café with her hand in a guy's hand and stopped upon hearing Farkle's laugh, recognizing it right away. The guy who was with her lead her to a table that was about five tables away from Farkle and Riley's and she didn't take her eyes off of them for a second. Farkle noticed her as well and the smile was wiped off of his face.

"Is something wrong?" Riley asked noticing his change of demeanor.

"No." Farkle said with a small fake smile. "Shall we leave?"

"We shall…" Riley trailed of in a small voice. The both got up and headed to the door of the outdoor café, as Farkle has already paid when they got their orders. They passed Miley's table and Miley couldn't help but look Riley up and down making Riley look at her as well.

They headed back to the hotel in a taxi, neither of them ready for whatever the day is going to bring.

* * *

 **Alrighty! First off, I'm really sorry for making you wait for such a short chapter but I haven't been feeling too well for the past few days. I was a little emotionally unwell and whenever I opened my laptop to write, I just ended up staring at the blank screen without doing anything at all. the day before yesterday (5th of June) was when I finally got back to myself and boom it was Ramadan (6th of June) so I spent the night reading Quran and I didn't have anytime to write.**

 **Finishing this, I thought... they could wait for one more day to get a longer chapter... or get a small one for now until I write a new one that has a lot more exciting stuff. I decided it was better to just post the small one for now.**

 **So yeah, Ramadan started yesterday (it's already past midnight in my country so it's the 7th already) so I don't know how frequent my updates are gonna be since I only have a few hours to write and the long chapter that are +10K usually take three nights for me to write or a really long time on my laptop. I have plenty of time while fasting but if I write then, then I'll be ruining the whole purpose of fasting and Ramadan, which is to get closer to God.**

 **The next chapter will probably be up in two days or three days maximum, because I plan on having it at least 10K. It's an exciting one.**

 **I'll give you a little spoiler as an apology for the short chapter... There will be another kiss and a new emotion/feelings that a character is going to experience.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite how crappy it is. Don't forget to review and tell me who you think the kiss is gonna be between. I always ready you guys' reviews and I can't even tell you how happy they make me. Thank you so much!**

 **Also, I'd really like to thank who ever follows and favorites my story if you're a silent reader. Thank you so much!**

 **Oh P.S; JM is Joseph and Minkus' initials.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	13. Chapter 13 Wrong

Josh spotted Lucas as he made his way into the hotel with his hand in a girl's hand and smiles on both their faces. "I'll be right back." He told his colleague with a bat on the shoulder before heading towards the beach to tell Maya that he's back.

On the beach, sat Ian and Caitlyn with their swimsuit, Caitlyn's being an orange bikini and Ian's being a pair of blue swim trunks. Caitlyn held up her selfie stick with her phone on it and snapped a few pictures of herself and Ian, however Ian was busy on his phone so he didn't notice what she was doing that much. She then took it off of her selfie stick and chose a picture before sending it to her friend Sofia on WhatsApp with the message 'Don't we look so good together?'

 **Sofia xox- You do! Are you alone with him right now?**

 **-Yes! I have to use this opportunity wisely… Wish me luck *Heart emoji***

After sending that message, she locked her phone and turned to Ian. "Shall we get into the water?" She asked a little too excitedly and Ian looked at her.

"I'm okay here, honey… You can go ahead if you want." Ian told her with a small smile before going back to what he was doing on his phone.

Caitlyn fidgeted around in her beach chair with a grin on her face as she thought a little more before sitting up and turning to him once more. "Then let me cover you with sand!"

Ian laughed at her suggestion as he looked at her, "What?! No one suggested something like that to me ever since I was a little kid…. Never!"

"Oh c'mon! Please, please, please, please!" Caitlyn pleaded as she brought her hands together in a begging sort of manner.

"I became like a ring around your finger, Cait." Ian said with a sigh as he good up from his chair and Caitlyn grinned and followed suit.

While they were doing that, Maya was serving customers at the beach's café lazily. She'd lost her energy because of not knowing where her friend disappeared to. Because her back was to the entrance, she didn't see Josh coming up the stairs with a hand behind his back. She did notice him though when she went back to the isle where he was leaning on.

She went over to him in confusion and when she was near enough, he shoved a few yellow flowers that he gathered towards her. "Those for me?"

"Yeah… They're not as beautiful as you are but…" He trailed off and she took them as a smile finally made its way on her face.

"Thank you so much, Josh… They're so pretty."

"You deserve all pretty things…" he said and she looked at the ground with a smile before remembering something.

"Is Riley back?"

"No… But Mr. Lucas and his girlfriend are back so Riley will be back soon, hopefully."

"I hope so… She's probably with Mr. Farkle…. I wonder if I should ask for his phone number and call him to check on her."

"Why should you ask for his phone number and call him? What's the need for that? She'll be coming soon, why call him?" Josh said with a scowl that made Maya smirk.

"Lemme ask you something… Did you get jealous right now?"

Josh looked around awkwardly before looking at her, "Maybe… Can't I?"

"Why? Are you my boyfriend to be jealous?" Maya teased with a serious face.

"Am I not?" Josh asked in surprise.

Maya cracked a grin at him, "You get upset quickly…. Man, you're so nice." He smiled at her and they talked for a few more seconds until someone called Maya so she had to get back to work. After a few more minutes, it was nearing her lunch break so she excused herself as she had something to do.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"How about we have some coffee to digest what we just ate?" Cathy asked Joseph as she gathered the lunch boxes and handed them to the secretary to send to the kitchen so that they can clean them.

"What did we even eat that needs digestion?" Joseph mumbled lowly.

Cathy just ignored him as she smiled at the secretary, "Two cups of coffee, please." The girl nodded before taking the tray of dirty dishes out and to the kitchen. Cathy's phone started ringing, "Oh Nadia is calling… Who knows what kind of rumors and news she has for me now." Cathy said excitedly.

"Well… It's probably gonna be a long phone call and I have a meeting to attend so I'm leaving." Joseph said and Cathy gave a nod so he got up and headed out of the office.

"Hey, Nadia."

"Mrs. Cathy, how are you?" The journalist from earlier said.

"I'm okay, what about you?"

"I'm fine, thank you…. I want to hear your opinion about something… You have a minute?"

"Yeah… What is it?" Cathy said with a curious smile as she switched the phone to her other ear.

"A few pictures of Minkus and your best friend Ella Marin were taken today on a yacht in Miami…" The girl said with a smirk.

"Oh my… Really?" Cathy said in disbelief.

"Yeah… If you want I could send you the pictures. I think they're trying to keep their relationship a secret."

"It's probably that way… I'm really surprised right now…. Nadia, please don't publish anything about these photos, is that possible? I don't want them both to be in a bad situation because of this…. Their relationship most be so new that they think it's necessary to keep it to themselves… Please."

"Okay, Mrs. Cathy… But I'll be the first to publish anything when they do decide to reveal their relationship, just so you know." Cathy chuckled.

"That's totally fine… Listen Nadia… You know that we only invited your magazine of all the magazines to attend our hotel's opening ceremony. We'll be waiting for you so don't forget to come, alright?"

"How can I not come? Have a nice day." Nadia said and with that they both hanged up.

"I can't believe it….God!" Cathy said to herself, still surprised. "Is this some kind of Joke? Minkus and Ella! Wow!"

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Riley and Farkle finally arrived at the hotel and made their way inside. "You can rest for a bit if you want." Farkle told her and she nodded in agreement. "I'll ask Lucas about the program for today and inform you… So if you could give me your number…"

Riley looked at him apologetically, "I left my phone in the car that we crashed…"

"I sent everything that was in that car up to Lucas' room this morning… You can take it from there."

"I will, thank you…" Riley said and Farkle looked up to find that they've reached the elevator so they said goodbye and Riley went inside the elevator. "What the hell are my bags doing in Lucas' room? I hope he hadn't sneaked glances into them… I have to get them quickly!" Riley talked to herself as she went up.

"Lucas, I'm back." Farkle said into the phone. "I'm at the lobby's balcony."

"Alright… I'm coming." Lucas said from Kayli's room balcony where they were having some tea then hanged up. "Farkle is here, babe… I'll go see him and you get ready. I'll meet you at the beach." Lucas said, standing up.

"Okay, love." She said with a smile and stood up as well before pecking his lips and watching him leave. She then decided to call her mother who was now having lunch with Minkus. "Hey, mom. How are you?"

"I'm fine, baby girl… How are you? Were you able to meet Lucas?"

"Yeah… Everything is going really fine. I called you to tell you not to worry about us anymore." Kayli said with a smile that could be sensed through her tone.

"That's really good, baby girl… I'm relieved."

"What about you? Are you still in LA until now?" Kayli asked curiously making Ella curse internally.

"Um… No, We had to do an emergency meeting so I had to go back to the UK."

"Oh, alright…. We'll talk later then, mom. Enjoy your day." Kayli said and they hanged up after saying goodbye. Ella made her way back up the stairs towards Minkus and he looked at her concerned.

"Ella, babe… Is something wrong?"

"No…" Ella trailed off as she played with the strings of her sheer cover up before tying it around her waist to close it a bit.

"Lying to Kayli makes you feel bad and uneasy, doesn't it?" Ella looked at him in surprise before taking a seat beside him.

"Sometimes you really surprise me." She said putting her chin in the balm of her hand as she leaned on the table.

"I know you more than you could imagine, Ella. You're really important to me." Minkus said before taking a deep breath. "Look, I don't want you to be sad or uncomfortable or uneasy in any second of our relationship… For that reason I'll do whatever I can to make you happy." Ella smiled at him before pecking his lips. "How about we have dinner at a beautiful Italian restaurant?" Ella excitedly perked up.

"Of course! But it should be a place where we could listen to music and dance as well." Minkus grinned at her excitement and nodded in agreement. "Wait a minute… What am I saying?" She laughed at herself. "I lost myself for a moment there… In my opinion, let's just stay here. We don't know where or when we'll pump into our kids."

"I really was surprised with how fast you agreed." Minkus said sarcastically. They laughed together then continued eating their lunch.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Riley sneaked a glance at Lucas' room from the corridor and she found the house keeper coming out with the dirty sheets before leaving the door open and heading into another room. Riley took this as her chance and ran to his room which was at the end of the corridor. Once she was in, she headed to the bedroom and found her suitcase and bag beside his bed but just as she reached out for them, she heard voices entering the room so she quickly hid into the closet. It was the house keepers once again, cleaning the room. She breathed in, breathing Lucas' perfume that was stuck to his clothes and even though she found it really good, she fought really hard not to sneeze.

"You were able to convince Riley!?" Lucas said in disbelief after meeting Farkle in the balcony and hearing about what happened between Farkle and Riley.

"Yes… That was I made you one final favor."

"Thank you so much!" Lucas said happily but then noticed how Farkle's face wasn't bright and how his eyes held so much sadness. "What's wrong, cousin? What's that face for? Did something happen?"

"I…. I saw Miley." Farkle said as he met Lucas' eyes.

"Did you two talk?"

"No… Mark was with her…. Her cast-mate from the last movie she did."

"Oh yeah? Maybe she is in a relationship with that jerk." Lucas spit out, frustrated.

"I don't know… It's not my business."

"Yeah it's not, but it still upset you." Lucas said as a matter of fact.

"Anyways…. Let's not talk about that. I'm gonna change my clothes and head to the beach for Cait."

"Okay… I'll change as well and come right behind you." Right when they got up, a short girl made her way into the balcony with a dangerous look on her face. She looked around before spotting Lucas and marching towards him.

"Are you Lucas?" She said as she looked up at him.

Lucas looked at her in confusion before answering, "Yeah, I am Lu-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Lucas was honestly scared right now because her glare was so intense.

"Where the hell is Riley?!" She said in very low, scary voice.

"Chill out, short stack! Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Maya and I'll be making your dreams, nightmares from now on if you don't tell me where Riley is." She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him well, even when he was crouching a little because of her grip.

"I don't know, short-"

"Call me short stack again and you're dead." Maya threatened lowly.

"Sorry!" Lucas said immediately. "Can you let me go?" Maya thought about it for a few seconds before letting him go with a little push that made him stumble.

"Now tell me where my best friend is." Maya demanded as she crossed her arms.

"She's back in her room by now probably…. Your shift ends for your lunch break in fifteen minutes so you can go see her then." Farkle told her calmly with a small smile.

"Is she alright?" She said, her glare softening as she looked at Farkle.

"She's perfectly fine, I promise." Farkle told her and she visibly breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Lucas who was glaring at her but when she looked at him again with the same glare, he looked scared.

"You better stay the hell away from my friend… And you better know that I mean business right now! Come near her or put her in danger again and I'll make sure that you can never have babies in the future, got it?" Maya said getting dangerously close to his face while pointing a finger at him. Farkle was watching all of this while trying so hard not to laugh at Lucas' expression. Lucas nodded franticly while pushing Maya's finger away.

"I got it, Ma'am." He said in fear and Maya's glare turned into a grin scaring him even more with how fast she went from furious and giving death glares to grinning.

"All righty then… have nice day." She said before skipping out of the balcony and back towards the beach to finish the ten minutes she has left.

"And I thought that Riley was scary…" Lucas trailed off still in a daze and Farkle finally laughed at him. "HEY! Don't laugh at me! You should've helped me!"

"I've never seen you look so scared in your life, Luke… I have a level of admiration for her now… She's fierce."

"Let's just go change." Lucas mumbled before waving at a chuckling Farkle and heading towards the elevators.

"We're done now… Let's leave." One of the house keepers said and Riley sighed in relief because her butt was starting to hurt from sitting on the hard wood. She waited until she heard the clicking of the door closing and then opened the closet's door slowly.

"I got stuck here… I have to get out of here quickly." Riley mumbled with a huff as she got out of the closet. She went to her bags when she heard the clicking of a door once again so she quickly hid beside the bed.

Lucas made his way in and slipped his Bahamas shirt off and throwing it on the bed before heading to his closet and retrieving a pair of aqua blue swim trunks and a white V-neck that had splatters of paint all over the front. He slipped his white vans off then unbuttoned his jeans shorts making Riley cover her eyes in embarrassment. He then laid his shorts on the bed with the rest of his clothes and made his way to the bathroom. Riley took this as her chance and got out of her hiding place only to go back once again as she heard the clicking of the bathroom door. Lucas made his way into the bedroom with just a towel around his hips and took the bottle of body spray that was in the bedroom before going back to the bathroom.

 _How am I gonna get out of here?_ Riley thought to herself.

* * *

Caitlyn took a few rocks from the ones she gathered around her and placed them on Ian's covered in sand body. "What are you doing with these tiny rocks, Cait?"

"You'll see in a minute." She said with a giggle before taking her phone and snapping a few pictures of him. A man that was passing by them stopped and laughed making Caitlyn laugh even harder along with him.

"Why did he laugh? Why are you laughing?" Ian wondered.

"We'll take a selfie now." Caitlyn said before taking the picture on her snapchat and looking at it before posting it to her story. "This bikini suits you really well." Caitlyn said with a fit of giggles before showing Ian the picture.

"What bikini are you talking…" Ian trailed off as he looked at the picture. "CAITLYN WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?" Caitlyn got up and threw her phone on the beach chair and ran towards the water as Ian got up from under the sand. "Just wait until I catch you, Cait!"

Ian ran into the water after her and when he finally caught her, he carried her bridal style before throwing her into the water and doing that a few times.

"Okay, I'm sorry! SORRY!" Caitlyn said as he went to throw her once again. Ian started walking away so she threw herself onto his back and held onto his neck, trying to dunk him and failing. He turned around, his face dangerously close to hers and she forgot everything as she looked up at him as he returned her stare. She finally realized her hands around his neck so she took them away from him.

"That's enough playing around for you, young lady!" Ian said and she nodded still dazed. They made their way out of the water and started to dry themselves off when Caitlyn noticed Farkle.

"BROTHER! WE'RE HERE!" Caitlyn yelled as she waved for him so he headed towards them.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Riley closed and covered her eyes once again as Lucas came out of the shower and took off his towel to put on his swim trunks. As he went to retrieve his shirt, he knocked down Riley's backpack making her diary and other belongings fall out of it. Riley's eyes widened as she realized what just fell in front of her.

"Shit!" Lucas cursed as he bent down to gather her belongings back into the backpack. He kept huffing as he did so and Riley glared at him. "All of those stuff fell out of this small bag! Even her bag is hunting me." Riley glared some more as she tried to reach for her diary but he snatched it and stuffed into the bag with a huff.

Someone knocked on the door and Lucas went to answer it so Riley took this as her chance to escape. She made her way to the balcony and opened it before climbing out of the room through the railing and falling on her knees just like last time. Last time she hurt her ankle though. "Again!" She mumbled to herself as she got up from the floor and ran towards the inside of the hotel once again. Lucas got back to the bedroom and stared at the opened balcony door in confusion. He went towards it and closed it as well as the curtain before taking his wallet then spraying some perfume on.

As he went to take Riley's backpack, a beautiful looking notebook inside the opened backpack caught his attention. He took it out and admired the beautiful doodles that decorated the outside before opening it. A small smile came to his face as he flipped through the pages. Each page had a beautiful, pretty realistic drawing. "She's talented!" He said to himself as his smile turned into a grin. He kept flipping through it until he landed on the last one that spiked his attention even more. It was a drawing of a bull wearing a leather jacket and leaning against a black Camaro, aka his car, and a girl in a blue dress and a yellow bandana sitting on the floor. The scene looked familiar to him and soon his look of confusion turned to disbelief.

"So I'm a bull, aren't I? Would you look at that?" Lucas said to himself before closing it and slipping it back in the backpack and taking it along with the suitcase with him before going out of his room.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Ella and Minkus? Really? Wow…" Joseph asked in surprise after Cathy had told him what Nadia told her.

"I know right… I can't believe it either."

"Is she sure though?"

"I don't think she would've told me if she wasn't… she said she even has pictures….. Besides, think about it babe… last night they met at our door, they came into the house together… Okay, we'll say that it was just coincidence. Minkus went to Miami today and I was supposed to meet Ella today but Ella is nowhere to be found… Do you think that's all normal and just coincidence?"

"Well, it is pretty logical when you think about it that way." Joseph said and took a sip of his coffee. "You're right… how did we never think about it?"

"Why would we? I mean it's not something that comes to mind naturally."

"Actually… They suit each other well. Only a woman like Ella can deal with Minkus." He said with a smile and put his coffee cup on the table.

"Yeah… But Ella is in a hard situation… Can a man like Minkus be satisfied with one woman?"

"When he's in love, he can. Minkus changed a lot after what he's gone through with Claire. He lost his trust in women… maybe he'll be able to get back the pieces he lost from himself with Ella…"

"I hope so… What he went through wasn't easy… What lady leaved her husband and two kids with a note?! She left them one single note and disappeared. He had to deal with two kids on his own… one of them being a toddler. It wasn't at all easy for him."

"We can't really say that Ella's marriage went well either…. I just hope they're happy together."

Cathy smiled at him and took hold of his hand, "Just like us." Joseph smiled back at her and kissed her hand.

* * *

Riley made her way into her room in defeat that she couldn't get her bags back and sat on her bed. Just then she got a call on the hotel room's telephone from Farkle telling her that they'll meet at the beach. When she hanged up someone knocked on her door so she went to get it.

"Pumpkin!" Maya said as she engulfed her in a tight hug. "I was so worried, Riles."

"You don't even want to know what happened to me, peaches… I went through many different types of trouble." Riley told her as they both made their way into the room once again. "Just let me call my mum before anything. She must be super worried."

"Yeah, she called me this morning and I told her that your phone has a problem but we're okay."

"She called you when she couldn't reach me of course."

"Probably… Here use my phone and call her." Maya told her before handing her the phone and sitting on Riley's bed.

"Mum… how are you?" Riley said once Topanga answered the phone.

"I'm okay now that I heard your voice, baby girl. How are you?" Topanga said happily.

"We're okay… I'm sorry that I barely called you ever since I got here." Riley said as she sat down on the couch opposite from the bed.

"It's okay, baby. How is it? Were you able to get used to it? Are you comfortable? How's the food? Please tell me that you're eating well." Topanga said in one breath.

"I'm comfortable, Mum. The food is good and delicious but not as delicious as yours."

"I miss you, Riley."

"I miss you too, Mum… How are you doing at your new job? Everything is going fine right?"

"Um… It's going fine, baby girl. Enjoy your time when you can, honey." Topanga said and looked nervously at Katy who had just entered the kitchen with bags of grocery with her.

"I'm glad to hear that… I'll call you again tonight."

"Okay, baby girl… Riley… Fix your phone quickly so that it's not a burden on Maya, alright?"

"Alright, mum… Take care."

"You too, baby." With that they both hanged up. "Katy… Riley will be so upset when she knows that the house is being sold. All of her memories with her father are in that house… Even to me, it seems like we're leaving him behind. He died seven years ago but it still seems like it happened yesterday." Topanga said as tears filled her eyes but she kept them in and smiled at Katy slightly. "I don't think I'll ever get over it."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Shawn said when he got into the kitchen, sensing that he interrupted something.

"It's okay, Shawn." Katy said.

"I was going to ask you if there's any food left…"

"You rarely have food here… What happened?" Katy teased making him chuckle nervously.

"Well… After I tried Mrs. Topanga's food…" he trailed off but Katy finished for him.

"The food that they sell in restaurants became tasteless, right?" He nodded at her and she turned to look at Topanga, "That's right… You can't really enjoy most foods after you try Topanga's food."

They continued talking then Topanga gave him some food to eat.

"I can't believe it, Riley. There isn't a thing that hasn't happened to you during the past few days." Maya said as she looked at Riley while laying down on her side on her bed. Riley sat cross legged on her bed opposite from her. She had just told Maya about her adventures.

"I can't believe it either, peaches… what if something had happened to me while I was there?"

"At least you weren't alone, Riles. Lucas was with you, no matter how bad he is."

"That douchebag!" Riley mumbled to herself. "Everything happen because of him, anyways! Nothing would've happened to me if it wasn't for his genius-ish ideas!"

"Yeah… Maybe something would've happened between you and Farkle yesterday… Anyways, you're still gonna pretend to be lovers, right?"

"Actually, I changed my mind because of that stupid jerk-face Lucas." Riley snapped.

"Why?!"

"I don't even want to remember it, Maya."

"What?! Why?! What did he do to you?!" Maya said with her eyes wide open and Riley looked anywhere but at her. "Don't make me go back to him and screw his head off of his head after I make him tell me… I swear to god if he did something-" Maya had already told her about what she did to Lucas.

"He kissed me!" Riley exclaimed making Maya's threat come to a halt.

"WHAT?! KISSED YOU!? ON THE LIPS?" Maya exclaimed, sitting up on the bed.

"Yes, Maya… He just suddenly grabbed my head and kissed me on the lips… I can't believe my first kiss was with him!"

"He's such a weird guy… I mean… He's lying and doing all those games to make sure that his girlfriend doesn't get mad and then he goes and kisses you? I really don't get it… What if he fell in love with you!"

"Don't say that, Maya! What does he even know about love?"

"I don't know… I'm just confused… Just focus on Farkle." Upon bringing him up, Riley smiled.

"Yeah… He's the one that convinced me to do this."

"I feel really good about tonight, pumpkin…"

"Farkle called a while ago… and told me to head down to the beach." Riley told her with a shy grin.

"That's wonderful! That way I'll be able to see you! I'm so excited!" Riley nodded.

"What about you? How did your date with Josh go?" Riley asked excitedly.

"I don't know… It went good…" Maya said before leaning over towards Riley excitedly, "Look… he bought me this bracelet." She shows her the bracelet that she hadn't taken off since he put it on her except to shower this morning.

"It's really pretty! He's a good guy, Maya."

"Yeah… We're going out."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… We're not as fast as you guys but we held hands last night."

"Don't make fun, Maya!" Riley exclaimed with a frown. "Anyways, I'm really happy for you… At least one of us is happy."

"He's a really nice guy… I mean… It's not quite possible for us to have a future together but we're in a good place right now." Riley shook her head.

"You can't really know what's gonna happen in the future, Maya… Anyways, I have to get ready." Riley said and got up and Maya followed suit.

"And I have to go back to work." Maya said putting her white converse back on. "Knowing that my boss is my sister's husband, I won't get fired, right?" Maya teased making Riley smile. "Look if you need something to wear you can just choose something from my clothes, okay? We're not the same size but the difference isn't that big… They'll just be way shorter on you." Maya told her as she gave her a hug.

"Okay… Thanks." Riley told her and Maya waved at her before leaving the room. Riley took her out of the bun she had it in and shook it as she made her way into the walk in closet and looked through Maya's clothes for a cover-up to wear over the bikini that Lucas got her since it's the only one she has right now, when she heard a knock on the door. "Did she forget something?" Riley went to the door and opened it to find a smirking Lucas. "Oh it's you." She said bitterly.

"You don't like it?" He said smugly.

"No." Riley said simply, crossing her arms. "If you're here to thank me, then I only changed my mind because Farkle pleaded a lot. It doesn't have anything to do with you." Riley said not noticing her bags behind him. Lucas didn't put much thought in how beautiful she looked with her hair tossed to one side.

"Nah, I didn't come here for that. I knew that you were going to change your mind anyways." Lucas said as a matter of fact making her glare at him.

"I don't think you should act arrogantly if you don't want me to change my mind. I won't lose anything if I do… But you will." Riley threatened and he sighed. "Anyways, what happened? What do you want?"

"Won't you let me come in first?" Lucas said with a smirk.

"Of course not! You can't expect me to trust you after what you did."

"Don't get way over yourself just because I kissed you once… I'm not head over heels for you. I won't even try to do anything with you."

"Lucas!" She exclaimed angrily.

"Okay… don't get mad… I brought your stuff for you." Lucas told her pointing at her bags behind him. She shoved him to the side before snatching her things and bringing them into the room. He smiled and once again didn't give much thought to the part of his brain that thought she looked hot when she was angry. He then followed her into the room and kicked the door shut with his foot and watched as she laid her backpack on the couch with her suitcase on the floor beside it. "So that means that you think I'm a bull."

Riley looked at him in confusion at first before her eyes went wide and she hurriedly opened her backpack and searched for her notebook but didn't find it. "Where is my notebook?" She asked as she looked at him.

He had it tucked into the band of his trunks so he took it out and held it up with a smile. "Right here."

"Give it to me!" Riley said holding her hand out.

Lucas' smile fell into a serious face as he said, "Apologize."

"What?!" Riley exclaimed as she went towards him making him put the notebook behind his back. "Why would I apologize to you?" She wrapped her arms around him to reach her notebook but he kept holding it away from her hands. "You're the one who should apologize to me! Give me my freaking notebook!"

"If you don't apologize, you might as well forget about getting your notebook back." Lucas said and she stepped back.

"I won't apologize! Give me my notebook, Lucas!" She tried to reach for it once again. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for going through my stuff?"

"Aren't _you_ ashamed of yourself for calling me a bull?"

"Of course not, because you are a bull! Even calling you a bull isn't enough." She tried to reach for the notebook once again so he raised his arm up making it hard for her to reach. "I said give me my-" she said as she tried to grip his arm as she jumped up but ended up making him lose his balance and knocking him down onto the bed with her falling on top. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she snatched her notebook and got up, feeling uncomfortable. She glared at him as he got up.

"Don't look at me like that… you're the one who fell on top of me." Lucas said with a smirk making her blush in embarrassment. His heart was beating a bit faster than usual but he just blamed it on the fact that he was surprised with the fall.

"Can you please get out of my room?" Riley asked quietly.

"Okay… I'm leaving." He said before leaving the room.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Oh Cathy is calling." Ella said as she sat up from laying down on Minkus' chest. "Hello, Cathy."

"How are you, Ella?" Cathy asked smiling.

"I'm okay… how are you?"

"I'm okay as well, dear…. Where are you?"

"Some emergency occurred this morning so I had to go back to the UK."

"Really? When are you going to Miami?"

"Well I'll see my schedule and if nothing wrong happens, I'll leave tomorrow morning. When are you and Joseph going?"

"This weekend if it went Joseph's way but for me I want to go to Miami as soon as possible because I'm worried about the kids."

"Don't worry… I just talked to Kayli and she said that everything is going just fine."

"Really? That's wonderful… Okay then I won't bother you too much since you have work to do. Goodbye." With that they hanged up and Cathy giggled as she went back towards Joseph's desk. "She's not telling me… We'd be the happiest of people around them if they were to tell us and yet she's hiding it."

"It's probably still new for them." Joseph said with a smile. "Let's not pressure them and let them go at their own pace." Cathy nodded before laughing and Joseph joined her.

* * *

"It smells great! Food is ready!" Topanga said to herself.

"Topanga, I prepared the place you'll be staying in for you… If you're down with the food then let's go have a look at the place since you haven't seen it yet." Katy said as she made her way into the kitchen. "Let's leave work together today… Let me help you with packing your stuff."

"I can't thank you enough, Katy." Topanga told her with a grateful smile.

"You don't need to thank me at all, T. Oh by the way, you need a car to take your stuff from your house to here."

"Do you know someone?" As they thought about it, Shawn made his way into the kitchen with a tray of the empty plates he ate in.

"Thank you for the food, Mrs. Topanga." He said with a smile as he put the tray on the kitchen's table.

"We have Shawn…. Shawn can help us." Katy said suddenly as she looked at Topanga with a smile.

"What do you need help with?" Shawn asked going over to where they were standing.

"Topanga is leaving her house and she'll leave at the penthouse from now on. We need help with how we'll get her stuff here." Katy said.

"Really? Okay then, I can solve this." Shawn said and Topanga went to tell him no but Katy looked at her making her swallow the words. "We work her together so if we don't help each other who's gonna help us?"

"Thank you." Topanga said.

"You're welcome…"

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Hey, Josh." A girl with short brown hair and brown eyes said.

"Hanna? What are you doing here?" Josh asked her as he looked around him.

"Is that the way you greet me after coming all the way here?"

"Well excuse me, but coming here without informing me wasn't good at all. I'm working!"

"I won't do you any harm… I'll wait for you until your shift is over. Just tell me where to wait. We need to talk…"

"Hanna… We talked about everything already."

"Please." She pleaded.

"Alright… Come wait inside." He gestured to the reception's staff room and led her in.

At the same time, Riley was heading towards the elevator with a beach bag in her hands and a blue romper style cover up that was opened through both sides allowing you to see her sides completely and a pair of blue flip flops with it while Kayli was also making her way to the elevator in a black see through maxi cover up that allowed you to see he white bikini, a pair of black flip flops and a black hat along with a beach bag. They both made their way into the elevator and Riley finally had a good look at her face from under the hat. She panicked a little before remembering that she doesn't know her… yet. Riley made her way past Josh and stopped to say hi and noticed he was acting a bit too uncomfortable around her. She then headed for the beach.

Caitlyn took a few more selfies with a sleeping Ian before noticing Farkle and Lucas coming out of the water. She pretended to be typing on her phone.

"Farkle… It seems like your girlfriend won't bless us with her appearance this time as well." Kayli said from her place on a beach chair, having arrived before Riley and gone into the water and out of it already. "Do you even have a girlfriend?"

Farkle then smiled as he noticed someone coming their way in slow steps. "I do, Kayli… She's even standing right behind you."

"I don't believe you." She said before turning around and noticing that there was a girl behind her, indeed. She stood up from her seat and turned to the girl with a smile.

"Riley… This is Kayli, Lucas' girlfriend." Farkle introduced and Riley managed a very weak smile through her nerves.

"Nice to meet you." Kayli said as she shook her hand with the tips of her fingers.

"Nice to meet you too." Riley said quietly and Lucas looked at her, sensing how nervous she was. Caitlyn stood next to Farkle with Ian behind her.

"This is Caitlyn… My sister." Farkle said and it was as if it was all Caitlyn was waiting for as she immediately went for a hug.

"Hey." She said cheerfully as she hugged Riley. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Riley said with a bigger smile now.

"Ian…" Farkle introduced and Ian went forward to shake her hand.

"Hello, Riley."

"Hello…" Riley told him as she shook his hand politely.

"And you know Lucas… No need for introductions here." Farkle said with a chuckle and Riley turned her head to look at Lucas who was smirking at her so she turned her head away as her eyebrows frowned in annoyance.

"Unfortunately." She mumbled.

"How are you, Riley?" He said from his place and she looked at him with a tight smile.

"Fine." She said before going to the beach chair that was beside him and sitting down, with Farkle on the chair beside her. So it was, Kayli, then Lucas, then Riley, then Farkle, then Caitlyn, then Ian. A few minutes later, Maya made her way towards them with a tray of drinks and started putting them on the table between Riley and Lucas' chair. She was busy giving warning glances to Lucas and glancing at Riley that she spilt a drink on Kayli's wallet.

"AH! I'm so sorry!" She said immediately and Kayli shot up.

"Be careful!" Kayli exclaimed as she stood up to see the damage that was done.

"I'm sorry…" Maya said as she looked at the ground. "It wasn't on purpose, I swear!" She tried to wipe the drink away from the wallet but Kayli snatched it.

"What the hell are you doing? My wallet is ruined now!" She said dramatically as she looked at it.

"Kayli don't exaggerate. It was just some cola, nothing happened." Farkle told her, not happy with her reaction.

"But it's my favorite wallet! Now my mood is ruined too." Kayli whined.

"I'm sorry…" Maya said before running away, having cleaned up the mess she made.

"I think you should be more careful when changing your employees." Kayli said making Riley and Lucas' head to snap towards her. Riley looked at her in anger and Lucas looked back at Riley noticing the furious look on her face. "You'll lose a lot of customers if you don't. You should thank god that the hotel is yours or else I wouldn't have let this slide…" Riley's face was getting angrier with every word she uttered. "Dumb clutz."

Riley opened her mouth to say something but Lucas hurriedly stopped her, "How about we go play volleyball?" Riley glared at him but then her expression softened, realizing what she was about to do.

"Great idea." Farkle said, sitting up. "Are you gonna join us, Riley?"

"Okay."

"You, Kayli?" Lucas asked her as he sat up as well.

"I'm in." She said and then they all got up. Riley took off her cover up to reveal a blue tie dye wrap around bikini top with the matching, a bit cheeky, bottoms. They started playing after splitting up to two teams. Riley, Farkle and Caitlyn in a team, and Lucas, Kayli, and Ian on another team. Farkle's team kept scoring points while Lucas' barely scored three points. Lucas didn't want to give his attention to Riley but she definitely had it. Every time they scored a point, She'd high-five Farkle or he's high-five her with a big smile on her face. For the second time since he'd met her, she was really having fun and smiling from her heart.

As Riley served another ball, she hit Kayli with it right in the head. In Riley's defense, it was by mistake and because Kayli was just staring at her fingers but internally, she was happy she'd hit her even if it was by mistake. Maya was watching from afar and burst out laughing when the ball hit Kayli's head.

"You were great girls." Farkle told them with a smile as they made their way back towards their chairs. His team had one 15 points while Lucas' had 7 points. Riley and Caitlyn high-fived each other, ginning. "Lucas… the food is on your team… What are you gonna order for us?"

"That was all I could do on my own. Ian today was a complete disappoint… I'm not even counting Kayli."

"Don't exaggerate, Lucas. We did everything we could." Kayli told him. "It's just a game."

"Yeah… Let's leave it behind us and go for a swim." Ian said.

"Let's go then… Let's swim and return here." Lucas said with a smirk before looking at Riley who glared at him.

"I'm in." Caitlyn and Ian said.

"Nobody can beat me in that." Kayli said with a competitive grin and they all turned towards the water before Caitlyn noticed Riley not with them.

"Aren't you coming, Riley?" She asked turning their attention to the girl.

"I don't know how to swim…" Riley trailed off with a small smile.

"Really? How come?" Kayli said sarcastically and Lucas just looked at Riley with a smirk.

"I'll stay with Riley, then." Farkle said and headed back towards her.

"He doesn't leave his girlfriend alone… such a gentleman." Kayli said before they all headed into the water and Riley and Farkle sat back in their chairs.

"Riley is so natural and spontaneous… I like her a lot." Caitlyn told Ian once they were in the water.

"Yeah… She seems like a nice girl." Ian agreed.

"I don't understand where he found that girl. She's seems so ordinary to me especially after Miley." Kayli said, a good distance away from Caitlyn and Ian. "I don't think she suits Farkle."

"I don't know where he found her either." Lucas said with a grin before dunking into the water and swimming away slightly.

"There was no need for you to stay with me…" Riley said in her 'nice' voice.

"I can go if you want to stay by yourself." Farkle suggested, not wanting to upset her or make her uncomfortable.

"No! You got it wrong." Riley said hurriedly.

"I was just kidding." He said with a chuckle then his phone rang. "Excuse me for a minute." He said before getting up and walking away to answer his phone.

Riley then noticed Maya coming towards her to get the empty glasses of their drinks. "Are you okay?" She asked concerned as she sat up in her beach chair.

"I can say that I'm in a great state after those balls you hit her with." Maya said with a smirk.

"I did well, didn't I?"

"She has a brain that barely weighs ten grams… I don't think she even has a gram left after all the balls that hit her in the head." Riley laughed and Maya moved away a hair that has fallen to her face from her messy bun. "I don't understand how Lucas puts up with her."

"It's Lucas we're talking about here, Maya… what did you expect?"

"They're coming… I'll get going." Riley nodded and Maya went back to her work.

"I think that girl is a bit too ordinary for your brother." Kayli said as she walked out of the water with Caitlyn.

"I don't think so at all…. I really like her and I'm positive that we'll get along well." Caitlyn said in a sharp tone. "I think you're mixing being spontaneous and natural with being too ordinary." She said before putting a big smile on her face as she ran towards her brother and Riley. "Let's go to the waterpark!" She said excitedly.

Kayli ran behind her, "Let's take a selfie first!" They all stood together and Riley joined them, standing awkwardly to Farkle's side with an awkward smile on her face. Kayli took the picture and then the girls put on their cover ups as the guys slipped their shirts back on before they headed towards the waterpark.

They went on a water slide where two people sit in a two-person floaty and then they slide down like that. Both the couples went on it leaving Caitlyn and Ian out since they didn't want to go so they took selfies while waiting. Then they went on two more slides before making their way out of the park.

"Weren't the slides so much fun?" Caitlyn asked them excitedly.

"Yeah… I was a bit scared at first but then I had so much fun." Riley said as she looked at her. She accidently put one foot in front of the other and stumbled, almost falling flat on her face if it wasn't for the hands that held her. Lucas had hurriedly reached forward and caught her arm while Farkle caught the other. Riley stared at Lucas and he stared back at her not knowing why he panicked when he saw her stumble while Kayli looked at him weirdly. He then looked at Farkle who nodded discreetly, as if to tell him 'I got it' so he let go and backed away.

"Are you okay?" Farkle asked still holding her arm.

"I'm okay." Riley said and he let go of her arm as they started walking, with Lucas' gaze fixed on Riley.

"Hold your girlfriend's hand, Farkle." Kayli said as she noticed him keeping his hands to his sides. Lucas stared at them, waiting for the next move. "Oh… or maybe you haven't held hands until now?"

Farkle looked at Riley saying 'shall we?' with his expression and she gave a discreet nod so he reached towards her hand and wrapped his fingers around it. He just held it, not even interlacing their fingers. Lucas looked at their connected hands, feeling a twinge of something fairly new to him. He didn't know how to define it but he knew he didn't like it. Kayli reached towards him and held his hand, bringing him back to reality as he gave her a tight smile.

"You look so good together and you suit each other really well!" Caitlyn said excitedly and Lucas felt his free hand going into a fist.

"Caitlyn." Farkle said in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay. I'll shut up." She said before lowering her voice and saying to Ian. "Are they really boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Of course." He said in a whisper too.

"Caitlyn! I can hear you!" Farkle warned with a smile.

"I just can't believe that you too are dating." She said with a giggle and they stopped walking.

"What else do you need to see to believe?" Lucas said sarcastically not knowing that he'll regret it later.

Caitlyn thought about it for a few seconds before grinning, "I'll believe it if you kiss her." Riley's eyes went wide at her words.

"Caitlyn-" Farkle started but was interrupted.

"Me too. We've been together for two hours and you haven't even tried to kiss her…. You have kissed before, haven't you?"

"C'mon guys kissing isn't something that can be done knowing that everyone is watching." Ian said and Lucas didn't know why but he internally thanked him for the efforts.

"All we need is a little peck, brother." Caitlyn said and Farkle huffed before looking at Riley who shrugged, embarrassed. He took hold of her face gently and guided his lips towards hers after they'd both closed their eyes. Lucas watched them as they kissed and again felt that twinge in the bit of his stomach. They kissed for a few seconds before he pulled away and Riley opened her eyes and smiled slightly.

"Happy?" Farkle snapped and Caitlyn clapped her hands excitedly with a smile.

"VERY! I'm so happy for you, brother." Caitlyn said before noticing a place behind them. "Oh what is this place, brother?" she pointed at it and both Riley and Farkle sighed internally in relief that they weren't the center of attention anymore.

"It's a zoo, Cait." Farkle told her and they started walking towards it, Riley's hand still in Farkle's.

"Really?"

"Yeah… Let's go in and I'll show you around." Farkle suggested and Caitlyn nodded happily.

"Babe… I'm really tired." Kayli whined to Lucas. "Can we go back to the room and rest?"

"Okay… We'll meet at dinner then." Lucas said and waved goodbye at them. A part of him was skeptical about leaving Riley but the other part wanted to get away from being around her. They left and Caitlyn and Ian headed into the zoo.

Farkle waited until they were alone before taking his hand out of Riley's hand. She looked up at him because of the sudden loss of contact. "We can act the way we want now that Kayli is gone… And Riley I'm so sorry for what Caitlyn made me do… If I didn't, they would've suspected something… I'm really sorry for kissing you."

The words really annoyed Riley. She didn't want him to apologize for kissing her, in fact, she wanted him to kiss her again because that kiss didn't feel right. It felt forced and fake. Very fake. So she wanted him to kiss her again maybe this time it won't be so bad. How come her kiss with Lucas didn't feel fake or forced?

"It's okay… I know you had no choice." She said, putting a small smile on her face.

"Let's go in then." He said and guided her inside. They found Ian and Caitlyn looking at some monkey's so they went to them when something caught Riley's eyes and she ran towards it.

"Look at the puppies!" She exclaimed and Caitlyn ran towards her.

"They're so cute!" Caitlyn said as she watched them through the fence of their cage. "Can we play with them, brother?"

"Of course…" He said and then motioned for the zookeeper to do so. He gave each of them a puppy and they grinned as they played with them.

"You probably love animal like I do." Caitlyn said as she watched Riley playing with the blue-eyed puppy.

"Yeah… I really love them." Riley said with a smile.

"That's why I want to be a veterinarian…. I want to cure animals and I don't even want money in return."

"That is such a great goal, Caitlyn… I hope you reach it."

"I hope." She said and looked at Riley for a while. "I really like you… Don't break up with my brother." Riley smiled at her but that smile fell when she looked away. She looked at Farkle who happened to be watching them and then went back to playing with the puppy.

"Off… It's so hard to pretend to be someone's boyfriend." Farkle told Ian with a huff.

"It must be hard for her too… Look, Riley is a very nice girl… I really think you should give it a real chance."

"Ian!" Farkle warned.

"Just forget Miley already, dude." Farkle huffed before looking back at his sister and Riley.

"Caitlyn… Let's go."

"We'll come back, puppies... We'll be back." Caitlyn said to the puppies as the zookeeper took them from her and Riley.

They left and headed back to the hotel. "I'll come pick you up for dinner." Farkle told Riley as they walked into the hotel with Caitlyn and Ian.

"Okay… C ya… bye." Riley said cheerfully and waved at them then headed to the elevator.

"Bye." Caitlyn said and waved back. "Brother… I really like Riley. She's such a sweetheart and she's very natural and spontaneous…. She also likes animals a lot." Ian looked at him from behind her. "She's not a bitch like Miley."

"Caitlyn!"

"Don't Caitlyn me, Farkle… Am I lying? She was so fake and she hated animals with a passion… How can a person who's not able to love animals be able to love other human beings?"

"I agree with everything she said." Ian said with a nod.

"You too, Ian? Good job, guys."

"Okay, okay… Don't get mad… I'll meet you on dinner… Bye." Ian said and waved at them before leaving as well.

Riley made her way into her room where Maya was dressed in a black skater skirt pair with black wedges and a sleeveless floral top tucked inside the skirt. Her hair was straight and she had her normal makeup on. When she saw Riley she hurried towards her and sat her down on the bed then sitting with her.

"I've been waiting for you… What happened after you left? Tell me!"

"Nothing happened…" Riley said avoiding her eyes.

"Something seems different about your demeanor… hurry and tell me what happened."

"Nothing can be kept hidden from you."

"Yeah… Now spill."

"We… held hands." Riley said with a smile.

"WHAT? What do you mean you held hands? You mean his hand and your hand…"

"Yeah!"

"Are you dating for real now?"

"No… But we didn't just hold hands…. He kissed me, Maya."

"WHAT!?" Maya exclaimed with wide eyes. "He totally likes you! Wow you got kissed by both cousins in less than five hours… How did it go?"

Riley told her about everything that happened, leading to the kiss. "Did you like it?" At that Riley shrugged. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, peaches… It was weird. It felt fake and forced and just… It just didn't feel right at all. Not like I imagined it to be." Riley said with a frown.

"That _is_ weird…. Maybe it's because there were people watching you, you probably didn't feel comfortable. Also, considering that you just got to know him a few hours prior… It was a bit early and maybe you weren't ready." Riley thought about it before nodding, agreeing.

Although a part of her knew that this wasn't the real reason.

* * *

 **Alright so I'm a little late... I'm so sorry you guys. I'm not proud of this chapter to be honest.**

 **Anyways, I want to clear something up... Katy is not Maya's mother. She IS Katy from the show but she's not Maya's mother. Both of Maya's Parents passed away and that's why she lives with her brother. Katy's daughter will not be making an appearance in this story as well.**

 **Also another thing... A reviewer was confused with how it was already the 7th when in the US it was still the 6th... Right now it's 5:10AM where I live so the new day has already began (The 11th of June.) In the US, you guys go to sleep when we wake up to start the day and vice versa. I hope that cleared it out for you.**

 **Anyways, now that you know the path Rucas' relationship is headed to... I mean I gave you way too many hints... Who do you think will fall first? Riley or Lucas? Also, who will confess first?**

 **Another question... Do you think Riarkle are gonna date for real and give it a chance? or will it be too late?**

 **Last question... Are you a Lucaya fan or Rucas fan? And whatever your ship is, who do you think will end up together? and why?**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx.**


	14. Chapter 14: Tough situations?

One of the many lessons of life is that things don't always go the way we want them to, but that shouldn't disappoint or depress us because most of the time, it means that something better is gone happen instead.

This should be the case here, right?

We'll see along with Riley if it is.

* * *

"You'll be shocked once you see her, Clair…" Kayli said over the phone to her friend as she got her feet massaged. "You'll think that she works at the hotel as a waitress rather than Farkle's girlfriend…. Anyways, I saw her and all of my suspicions disappeared." She then nodded at something as if her friend could see her. "I'll post our pictures from today on Instagram so you'll be able to see her…. Okay, okay I'll post them right now." Then they hanged up and Kayli opened her Instagram then chose the group picture they took before going to the water park and posted it, tagging Farkle, Lucas, Caitlyn and Ian with the caption 'such a lovely day in Miami xox'.

The hours passed and the moon took the sun's place indicating that dinner time is nearing. Riley made her way out of her bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and another around her body. When she came back from the beach she was too tired so she went to sleep after talking with Maya and she woke up a few hours later. She'd just finished taking a shower and was now getting ready for dinner as it is seven in the evening and they were meeting at eight.

She started with blow drying her hair to get that out of the way before tying her hair up in a bun and starting her makeup. She gave herself smokey eyes then added liquid liner on her upper lash line and smudged it slightly to make it even more smokey and dragged the eyeshadow down her lower lash line making her eyes super smokey. Then she added a few coats of mascara and finished the rest of her makeup leaving her lips until she put her clothes on.

She took off her towel and put on a pair maroon panties and the matching strapless bra. She then sat down on her bed and applied lotion to her arms and legs then slipped into her romper when the lotion dried. It was a wine colored romper that had off the shoulder sleeves. She adjusted it before tying the belt straps around her waist. As she went back into her room she found Maya waking up from her nap.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." Riley teased as she took her hair out of the bun she had it in.

"Oh, I like!" Maya said as she wiggled her eyes when she noticed her look and Riley just giggled. "I'm gonna take a shower." With that she went into the bathroom.

Riley started curling her hair loosely to achieve beautiful looking loose curls. She finished it off with hairspray when she was happy with how it looked before turning back to her closet and taking her pair of black pumps and putting them on then tied the ankle straps. She then added a black choker to her neck that had a dangling silver flower along with a layered silver necklace and a few mid-fingers rings to both her hands along with silver earrings then went back into the room. She applied a natural dusty rosy pink lipstick to her lips and applied perfume just as Maya made her way out of the bathroom with a towel around her body.

"You look really pretty, Riles." She said with a soft smile.

"Really? I didn't do much though… That's how I normally get ready." Riley said with a nervous smile.

"It's the power of love that's making you look extra pretty tonight, pumpkin." Maya said with a smirk and Riley smiled nervously before making her way into the closet with Maya following her.

"What love are you talking about, Maya?" Riley asked nervously as she retrieved a black casual clutch. "Let's say that I like him."

"Of course you do. I saw you together today."

"Is it that obvious? I hope Farkle doesn't notice it." She said and made her way out of the closet and Maya quickly slipped into a pair of shorts and the same floral shirt from earlier after putting on her bra and panties then followed Riley out.

"Let him understand whatever he wants, Riles." Maya said as she took her hair out of the bun she had it in and shaking it out. Riley placed her phone in her clutch along with her lipstick and money and any other thing she needed. "I personally think that it'll be better if he did…. I think you guys are gonna be a real couple after tonight."

"Oh no…. Don't get me excited and get my hopes up, Maya… I'm already nervous." Riley said hurriedly with a scared expression on her face.

"Okay, I'll shut up." Maya said then went to the vanity and started her makeup, deciding not to use much since she won't go anywhere fancy.

"What are you guys gonna do tonight?"

"I don't know…" Maya looked at her through the mirror as she frowned. "He didn't call me."

"You call him, Peaches… He doesn't have to call you every time. You should call him." Riley told her as she sat down on the bed behind Maya.

"You're right… I'll call him when I'm done." She said and then a knock came on the door and Riley excitedly stood up.

"He's here! He's here!" She said excitedly and nervously at the same time then said goodbye to Maya. She stood in front of the full length mirror and when she was sure she looked good she went to the door and opened it. "Hey…" She said with a small smile as she looked up at him.

"Hey… You look good." He complimented with a smile. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a simple dark blue button up paired with navy blue vans.

"Thank you…" Riley said with a blush.

"Are you ready to go?" Farkle said and Riley nodded and made her way out of the room after retrieving her room key and slipping it into her clutch. They made their way down where everyone was waiting for them and Riley said hi, receiving a friendly hug from Caitlyn. Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of her even when they started walking out of the hotel. He thought that she looked gorgeous and he felt that twinge of the unrecognizable, very unwanted and annoying feeling in the pit of his stomach because of the thought of her dressing up like that for Farkle. He shook that thought away and concluded that girls always make sure they look good.

There were two cars waiting for them in front of the hotel's entrance. Riley, Caitlyn and Farkle got into one and Lucas, Ian and Kayli got into the other then they headed to a fancy restaurant where the host took them to their reserved table on the patio that was overlooking the ocean.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"The living room is almost done." Topanga said as she handed Katy more stuff to wrap in newspapers and pack them into the boxes.

"We finished a lot of things today." Katy said as she added more stuff into the box she was packing. "Everything will be done by tomorrow and we'll move the stuff to the Friar's house… then we'll be able to put everything in the storage room."

"It's so hard for a person to get used to a new place… I don't even know if I'll get used to it or not." Topanga said as she took a seat next to Katy on the couch and helped her with wrapping the stuff in newspapers.

"Well it won't feel like home but… Mr. and Mrs. Friar are really nice, kindhearted people… Even their son, Lucas, he's a little bit of a player but he's a nice, kindhearted guy as well. They raised him despite his troublesome acts. Besides, I wouldn't have told you to move into their house if I thought that you wouldn't be comfortable."

"I know, Katy. I know…. But there isn't a place like home. Especially this one as it has all of my memories with Cory…. Hopefully I'll be able to take care of everything really soon."

"Hopefully… Especially if a kind man appeared in your life." Topanga huffed at her friend's words.

"What will happen if he did, Katy?"

"What do you mean by what will happen? Loneliness is bad for you, T."

"I don't care if it's bad or not… I'm not lonely… After Cory… There's no other man for me, Katy. I'm Cory's even if he's not here anymore." Topanga said sternly. "Don't say stuff like that, Katy."

"You get upset really fast. Okay, I'll shut up."

"Yeah, shut up." Topanga snapped and they continued to work in silence before Topanga looked at Katy, "Should I make coffee?"

Katy gave a soft laugh and nodded so Topanga went into the kitchen to do so.

* * *

They'd ordered their food and when it arrived they started eating while keeping a small talk between them about how good the food is and such things.

"Since we couldn't do much talking this morning… What college do you go to, Riley?" Kayli said making Riley stop eating and look at her.

"I couldn't go to college this year due to some family issues… hopefully if nothing goes wrong this year, I'll be able to go." Riley said with a small smile.

"What do you plan on studying?" Ian asked her as he looked at her from beside Farkle, who was sitting beside her.

"Um, Art… The art of drawing paintings." Riley's smile widened when she mentioned that.

"Oh wow… I don't know how to draw at all…. I've always wanted to have that kind of talent. I think it's a really great talent. You're so lucky!" Caitlyn said with a soft smile.

"Thank you…" Riley gave a warm smile.

"Me too… I don't even know how to draw a flower or the simplest of things." Lucas joined their conversation with a small smile on his face. "I would've failed art class without a doubt if it wasn't for Farkle."

Farkle gave a chuckle and Lucas grinned. "Yeah… He made me draw everything for him through elementary school, middle school, and high school…. But do you know what the real surprise was? His grades in that class were _always_ better than mine."

They all laughed at that before Kayli spoke again, "So… What does your family do for a living? Who's your family?"

Lucas looked at Riley's face as it fell and clenched his jaw at his girlfriend's question and said through clenched teeth, "What do you want from that kind of information, Kayli? Don't ask silly, unnecessary questions."

"What's wrong with that?" Kayli said and everyone around the table gave a sigh of annoyance and rolled their eyes. "How did you guys meet? Tell us at least that."

"Oh yeah… I'm also curious about that. How did you guys meet?" Caitlyn said excitedly.

Riley looked at Farkle for permission and he gave her a small smile and a nod, "I had just came out of the bakery with a box that had a cake in it… and when I was crossing the street, Farkle appeared in front of me with his car. He almost hit me…" Riley said recalling that day and Lucas' eyes snapped towards her, noticing how familiar it seemed. "Of course because I panicked the cake flew out of my hands as I fell to the ground and then the cake fell on top of my head."

Lucas smirked while Caitlyn giggled, "I can't believe this!"

"It sounds like a joke… I would've lost my mind if I were you." Kayli said with a serious tone, "You must've gotten so mad at Farkle."

"Well in the beginning I did, I was furious since that cake was really important to me. But Farkle…" Her eyes went to Farkle before she looked at Lucas who sat across from her as she spoke, "He was really nice and _very_ polite… He was such a gentleman that he hurriedly got out of his car and made his way towards me to ask me if I was alright then helped me up from the ground." Lucas rolled his eyes at her and she glared at him, but no one seemed to notice. "Then he offered to take me to the place I was heading to…" She looked back at Farkle with a smile. "And that's how we met for the first time."

"That was so romantic…" Caitlyn said with a grin and Ian gave Farkle, who had a slight smile on his face, a pat on the back.

"Yeah… Very interesting." Kayli said with a tight smile. Lucas couldn't help but smile as he heard their comments.

"Don't you know what they say? They say that sometimes, great love starts with a fight. I mean…. It looks like your love started with an accident but..." Caitlyn said making Farkle and Riley uncomfortable while Lucas just looked at Riley who returned his gaze with a soft glare making him look away. He didn't know why but somehow he didn't feel bothered with what Caitlyn said.

That was the end of all the weird, awkward questions and they had small talks about life in general as they enjoyed their meal.

Somewhere in Miami, a girl sat on a wooden bench in a park as she looked through Farkle's Instagram account. She then went to his tagged photos and saw Kayli's picture from the beach today, "She probably knew that I was gonna see it. She posted Farkle and that girl's picture on purpose." She thought about something for a few minutes before dialing a number on her phone.

Farkle's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID and sighed. Lucas and Kayli looked at it as well as Farkle excused himself and got up to answer.

"Why is she calling him?" Kayli wondered to Lucas who stared at Farkle's back as he stood a few feet away. "She refused his marriage proposal yet she's still going after him at the same time."

Riley clenched her jaw at Kayli's words and looked at her lap with a frown. Lucas looked at Kayli then flicked his eyes towards Riley as if to tell Kayli 'his girlfriend is right here'. Riley looked at Farkle with a frown on her face while Lucas looked at her with a frown as well, silently wondering why she looked so sad all of a sudden.

"Yes?" Farkle said with a stern voice once he was out of their earshot. "I'm okay, Miley… How are you?"

"We couldn't talk to each other today…" Miley said as she got up from her seat and started walking, "I didn't want to greet you when I saw your girlfriend by your side."

"Oh yeah? And here I thought that you couldn't do so because your boyfriend was with you." Farkle said sarcastically. "Anyways, why did you call me?"

"Can I see you if possible? There are a few things that I want to say to you…" She said softly.

"I don't have time… There's nothing left for us to talk about, Miley." Farkle said in that stern tone once again. "We've already talked about everything we needed to talk about and it's over… I'm sorry."

"Okay…" Miley said in a small voice as a few tears rolled down her face. "Take care of yourself." She said in a voice that is barely above a whisper then hanged up. "Damn it."

Farkle sighed as he took the phone away from his ear then took a few seconds to compose himself before heading back to the table and sitting down. Everyone around the table looked at him in concern except for Riley. She glanced at him as he sat down then shifted her eyes to her lap with a small sad smile.

Farkle stared off at nothing in particular with a frown on his face while taking deep breaths. Lucas noticed the tense atmosphere and knew that it won't go back to the fun atmosphere they had. "Shall we leave? I myself had a pretty tiring day."

Ian nodded agreeing to Lucas' words. "I agree with you, Lucas. I'm pretty tired too." Kayli looked at Riley who was playing with the remaining food in her plate with her fork while a frown was prominent on her face. "Excuse me? Can we have the check please?" Ian called to the waiter who nodded.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Maya called Josh a few times on his phone but he never answered so she decided to go out by herself since she was bored. She was walking through the local street she went to before with Josh and Riley then stopped in front of the guy that Josh got her the bracelet from.

"Good evening…" She said as she looked at the bracelets. "Do you have from these but for men?" The guy started showing her the males' version of the bracelet she chose.

On a bench across from her, sat Josh with the girl from earlier, Hanna. "You came all the way here for no reason, Hanna." Josh said apologetically.

"Josh, we're engaged. It's not that simple… You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Look… We got engaged under the pressure of both our families but it's over now, do you get it?" Josh said as he turned to look at the brunette beside him, not noticing the blonde that was a few feet away from them. "It's very obvious that it won't work out between us, Hanna…. Look, I built a new life for myself here… In my opinion, you should do that too."

"Please don't talk like that, Josh. I came here to talk to you and fix a few things in our relationship."

"Hanna-" He raised a hand of his lap and she quickly caught it between her hands.

"Please give _us_ another chance, Josh." She said as she squeezed his hand. Josh looked anywhere but her.

"Thank you so much." Maya said as she paid the guy the money after buying to similar bracelets for her and Josh. As she walked away she saw Josh with his hand in a girl's hand and from her point of view, it looked like he was holding her hand not the other way around. She stopped in her tracks.

"Please let's just go back, Josh." She heard the girl say while Josh looked away. "Please, Josh…"

"What a jerk!" She mumbled to herself with a scowl and tears in her eyes before she turned around and walked away. She headed back towards the hotel, which was within walking distance, with the bags of everything that she bought while she was out.

"I can't believe that he's a two timer! Oh congratulations, Maya! You found yourself another douchebag, didn't you? Stupid girl!" She mumbled angrily to herself as she walked towards the hotel, getting weird glances from the guys she bumped into as she walked.

When she walked into her hotel room, she quickly changed into her PJs and laid in bed and it was then that the tears came. She cried until she fell asleep.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Everything is perfect, Minkus." Ella said as she looked at what was done to the yacht. Candles decorated it beautifully, making it so fancy. "Delicious food and a very beautiful atmosphere. I'm so touched!"

"I'm so happy that you like it, baby." Minkus said with a smile. All of a sudden a saxophone was heard from down stairs so Ella looked at Minkus before grinning as it was her favorite instrument. "The night wouldn't have been complete without it." He said with a smile and a sheepish shrug. "I thought… If we wanted to dance and have fun… What better place other than here?"

"I can't believe you…" Ella shook her head with a grin and Minkus just offered her his hand which she took and they stood up just as the saxophone player made his way upstairs. They started slow dancing together, enjoying being in each other's arms.

* * *

"Thank you for everything, Riley" Farkle told her as they stood in front of the elevator back in the hotel. Riley gave a small smile as she looked up at him. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong that upset you."

Riley shook her head quickly, "You didn't."

"I'm glad to know that." He gave her a smile. "You got in a few tough situations tonight that made you nervous… That really made me upset. I don't have the right to make you go through that… I'm sorry about everything that had made you uncomfortable and everything that you did against your will." He looked at Riley who had adverted her eyes to the ground. "Tomorrow, I'll tell everyone that we broke up." Riley looked up at him in surprise and he gave her a small smile. "But Caitlyn will be so mad at me…. She really loves you."

"I love her too… She's a sweetheart." Riley said as she gave him a small smile while holding her tears in.

Farkle smiled at her and she looked away, "Anyways… once again, I'm so sorry for everything… Take good care of yourself."

"Thank you… you take good care of yourself too." Riley said with a small smile before turning her back to him and pressing on the elevator button as her eyes filled with tears. Farkle walked away, deciding to go sit on the beach for a little bit.

Riley went into the elevator and pressed the button to her floor. Right when it closed, the tears fell from her eyes and she kneeled down as she cried. Little did she know that Lucas was watching her since the elevator had clear walls so he was able to see her from the ground floor as she went to the third floor. He didn't know what was wrong with him but he felt a twinge of a new unrecognizable feeling in his heart. He really hated those feelings because they made him feel confused and right now he felt helpless. He shook his head as he made his way to the elevator when he saw her get up and get out of it once it reached her floor.

Riley made her way into her room quietly when she found the lights off and she tried to muffle her cries as she took off her clothes and got into her PJs then into her bed after washing her face. She then followed Maya's routine as she cried herself to sleep.

The night turned into morning and the sun kicked the moon's ass as it took back its place. It was now a little past seven in the morning and the girls had finished telling each other about the events of the night before. They took turns in washing their bodies then Riley started packing her suitcase that she'd unpacked the day before. She really wished that she hadn't unpacked. She was dressed in a white high waisted skater skirt with suspenders and an aqua green tank-top that had ice-creams and donuts on it and had quarter length sleeves.

Maya made her way out of the bathroom as she finished her shower. "Riley… Are you sure about this? Can't you stay for a little bit longer?"

Riley turned to her after zipping her suitcase up, "No, Maya… Up to here is enough… I mean… I can only be a part of their lies but not their reality."

"I'm so sorry, Riles… I pressured you as well." Maya said apologetically as she took hold of Riley's hand.

"You had nothing to do with this, peaches…. All those things that I went through… one after another… I think they finally got to me and made me upset… I suddenly found myself shoved into something that messed up my life when I had a very quiet, peaceful life… Lying is not my thing, you know."

"What am I gonna do without you?" Maya said before leaning up and hugging Riley.

"Why don't you come as well? You don't need to stay here." Riley said once they'd pulled away. "Besides, we'll find a job when we go back to LA… The place here doesn't seem to be any good for us. Nothing good has happened to us ever since we got on that plane." Little did she know that later on, she'll admit that this was the best trip of her life. "Didn't you see what had happened to us during that _very_ short period of time?"

Maya thought about Riley's words carefully. "Yeah… That jerk too… I still can't believe what he did to me, you know?"

"Me either…. Come back with me, peaches… please." Riley told her and Maya though about it some more.

"You know what? I'll come… Why would I stay here longer?" Riley nodded her head. "Okay… Wait for me, I'll pack my stuff quickly and then we'll leave, okay?" Riley nodded and Maya went to the closet. She first changed into some boyfriend jean overalls that had rips on the pants and paired it with a purple tank top and heeled sneakers. **(AN; Her outfit from GMJexica)** While she packed, Riley decided to put a little bit of concealer under her eyes, eyeliner and mascara to hide her puffy eyes a bit. She and Maya kept their hair down.

Half an hour later, Maya was done packing so they took their suitcases and put them outside of the room. Maya went back into the room and took the bracelet off of her wrist. "Let me return this and come back… I don't want to keep it with me."

"Okay, peaches." Riley gave a small smile and Maya left. She went back to her backpack and checked that everything was in it before zipping it up.

Lucas was making his way towards the elevator when he passed Riley's room since he was just coming down from Ian's room. He looked at the bags that were outside in confusion before peering into the room, "Riley? Where are you going?" That came out more demanding than he intended but he was suddenly annoyed with the idea of her leaving.

Riley looked at him in surprise before frowning and storming off to him. "I'm going back to LA."

"You don't need to leave, Riles…. We're going back to La in a few days after the ceremony… you can stay here and go back to your job after we leave."

"First of all, don't call me Riles… I'm taking back the permission I gave you to do so. Secondly, I want to go back to LA. I don't care if you're leaving in a day or even a week."

Lucas sighed as he looked at the ground before looking back at her, once again feeling helpless. "Okay… As you like." He took out his wallet and counted a few hundred dollars before reaching his hand out to her.

Riley scowled as she looked at the money in disgust. "I really don't fucking understand why you keep trying to belittle me! You still don't believe that money can't fix everything, right?"

Lucas put the money back in his pocket with a sigh. "I'm upset, Riley! I don't want you to be in a tough situation because of me!"

"I'd stayed in several tough situations because of you already, Lucas! Why are you now suddenly concerned? You weren't concerned yesterday when I helped you deceive your girlfriend." Riley exclaimed angrily and Lucas stayed silent knowing that she needed to get it out of her system. "I lost my job because of you! I came here for a new start then lost my job AGAIN because of you! I crashed a car because of you! I lied to my mum because of you! I lied to people who don't even know me because of you! I almost got humiliated by your girlfriend SEVERAL times because of you! Oh and I almost got killed on a fucking ship because of you! What do you call everything that has happened to me ever since I met you other than tough situations, Lucas? Do you know how peaceful my life was? Do you know that I've never lied let alone DECIEVED people before? I'm a liar now because of you."

Riley stopped her angry semi-yelling rant and took a deep breath to calm herself. Lucas opened his mouth to speak but Riley started speaking again, "Anyways… I know how to take care of myself."

"Are you sure?" He was truly worried, especially after he saw her yesterday but she would never believe that he's worried about her.

"Yes!"

"Have a safe trip then." He told her with a sigh.

"Thank you!" She snapped and turned around before turning back to him just as he was about to walk away, "Oh and Lucas? I hope we never meet again!" she snapped before going back into her room and he walked away.

When he was out of earshot, he dialed a number on his phone. "Mrs. Sierra, Riley and Maya are leaving the hotel so make sure that you give them their full salary." He said into the phone as he walked away.

Maya came back to the room and they both took their bags and headed to the lobby to hand their room keys and quit their job. They were surprised when they were given their full salary but Maya was a bit more surprised than Riley was. They made their way out of the hotel where a taxi was waiting for them.

"I can't believe they gave us out full salaries… why did they do that?" Maya said as the driver took their bags from them to put them in the trunk.

"Why do you think? Lucas felt guilty so that's his way of making up for it." Riley said simply and got into the taxi.

As he drove off, Riley knew that her life will go back to normal once she's back in LA and away from Lucas.

But she knew nothing.

* * *

 **Okay so Miami is over now. Thank you Miami for being a part of my story.**

 **I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter but I've been very busy for the past few days and with Ramadan I'm even busier because I'm only free like after midnight till three in the morning and some days it's pretty tiring for me to write during that time.**

 **Also, I have an addiction you guys. I'm admitting it… I'm addicted to Korean dramas. I literally stay up all night just to watch a drama. I stayed up until 12 in the afternoon yesterday because I couldn't sleep until I finished the drama I was watching.**

 **Do you guys know descendants of the sun? it's my top favorite. I really want to write a fanfiction with the same storyline or idea with Rucas but I think it takes or needs a really skilled writer to write this type of story about a doctor and a soldier. Also, If you're into Korean dramas, make sure to tell me your favorites because I've ran out of dramas to watch at the moment. And if you're into them or you want to try watching them, tell me and I'll tell you some really good ones for you to watch.**

 **Anyways… I hope you guys have liked this chapter. As for Riley's romper, you can search it on google 'Audrey off shoulder romper'. Riley's makeup is also the model's makeup as well so I'd suggest you search for the look. Also, since I like that you guys can visualize the characters, I decided that Kayli is gonna be Perrie Edwards, Looks wise. Perrie is very beautiful and she's got the blue eyes, the blonde hair and she's British so it kind of suits the story if you visualize Kayli as Perrie from little mix. Just the looks and body, okay? Bc the personality is completely different. As for Ian, let's have him as... Ian Harding. Again, looks wise.**

 **On another note, I feel bad for those of you who wanted Riarkle to give it a chance for real because this is the end of Riarkle as couple. Fake or not. I will say though that we're gonna have a somewhat of a triangle in this story, depending on your definition of triangle.**

 **Last chapter I asked you whether it's gonna be Lucaya or Rucas and which one you ship. I obviously ship Rucas, I'm like a hardcore Rucas shipper since the very first episode. Like Violet1429 said, Lucaya may seem like fire but fire leads to destruction. Yes, different attracts but with Rucas I feel like their similarities are better than any differences Lucaya may have. Besides, they're not that similar. They have certain similarities but that's about it, they have differences too. She's sense and he's sensibility.**

 **I do feel like the writers hinted that it's gonna be Rucas especially in Jexica and Permanent record. In his message to Jexica he says 'I thought I liked them both but what I really love is that you want to ride unicorns while eating cotton candy.' He basically said that he likes Jexica while knowing that she's Riley. Then in permanent record, Rucas are both on the losers side of the room. In High school, they faught because she didn't have faith in him which I think hurt him. Honestly up until a few weeks ago I thought that his decision would be to let go of both girls in order to not hurt one of them but in an interview, Peyton said that he will choose one of the girls and someone who went to the live tappings also said that he will choose in GMTriangle which is next episode. I really hope they don't make a plot twist and have him and Riley date then break up.**

 **What do you expect is gonna happen next? Cathy doesn't want Riley to live with them so what's gonna happen to Riley? Will her and Lucas meet again? Also how do you think the person is gonna confess? Whether it's Riley or Lucas, how do you think they'll tell each other?**

 **Ohhh and what about Joshaya? What's gonna happen to them?**

 **I talked a lot this chapter... wow.**

 **As usual, don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and what you'd LIKE to see next.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	15. Chapter 15: Memories

Right after Riley and Maya's taxi drove off, a black jeep came to a stop in front of the hotel's entrance. Joseph and Cathy came out of the car as the porter took their bags from the trunk and followed them inside where the hotel's manager was waiting for them. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Friar. Welcome to the Aquamarine."

"Good morning, Mr. Emad." Joseph greeted and Cathy just gave the manager a smile.

"How was your trip, sir?"

"It was very good." Joseph told him with a nod.

"Your room is ready for you, Mr. Friar."

Joseph looked at Cathy who was busy checking the hotel out with her eyes, "Let's have something to drink first… shall we, Cath?"

"Yeah why not?" She told him with a smile.

"Then come to the balcony." Mr. Emad told them and Joseph put his hand on the small of her back to guide her.

"Let me show you the final design for the pool. The balcony overlooks the pool area and the ocean as well." He told her as they made their way towards it.

"Oh my god… Wow… Joseph..." She said in complete awe once they got inside the balcony.

"It looks pretty, doesn't it?"

"Very pretty."

"Here, have a seat." Mr. Emad motioned to a table and they both sat down. "I'll bring you something to drink." With that, he left them alone.

"Ah, Joseph! The pools look great! I didn't expect the whole place to look this pretty!" Cathy said with a grin on her face. He just smiles at her words and continues to look at the pool where something grabs his attention. More like, someone grabs his attention. Despite his age, he was always known for his sharp eyesight and how good he can see so he had no doubt in his heart that it was Lucas and Kayli who were chilling on the pool chairs talking to each other.

He got his phone out of his pocket and dialed Lucas' number and from his place, he saw Lucas sit up and hurriedly answer, "Hey, Dad. Good morning."

"Good morning, son… How are you? I hope I'm not interrupting your work. You must have a lot of work to do." Cathy looked at him with the smile still on her face.

"Oh you're not interrupting anything… I'm okay… I'm working of course because this is what I'm here for, you know? What else would I do?"

"Good job, son. Good job. I knew that you'd become a man for sure." He motioned with his hand towards the pool and Cathy looked at it in surprise.

"Of course, dad… I just want to be a good son and make you proud."

"Everything is alright and nothing is going unlike what's planned, right?"

"No, dad…. Don't worry, I'm taking care of everything carefully and skillfully. What about you? When are you and mum coming?"

"You said that you're taking care of everything…" Joseph said as he stood up and leaned on the balcony's railing and Cathy followed suit. "I wonder if we have to dress all the hotel's employees in red shorts, similar to the one you're wearing, what do you think?"

At that, Lucas looked at his swim trunks in confusion before springing out of his seat and looking around frantically until his eyes landed on the balcony that was so far away but he'd inherited his father's eyesight. Joseph waved at him and Lucas had nothing to do but wave back with panic written on his and Cathy's face.

"When will you be a man and take some responsibilities, huh?" Joseph said angrily and hanged up without giving him a chance to defend himself.

"Calm down, Joseph… Kayli is beside him." Cathy told him hurriedly.

"I don't care if its Kayli or anything else, Cathy! I sent him here to work and he's just chilling! Look at him!" He went back to sit down and Cathy looked back at Lucas and waved at him receiving a wave back from Lucas and Kayli. "He's enjoying he's time without a care."

"Okay, just calm down." She said before looking back at the smiling couple who indeed, looked like they didn't care about anything.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Cathy said that they'll be here tonight." Ella said as her and Minkus had breakfast, still on the yacht.

"My brother probably finished his job early."

"Probably… Minkus, go to the hotel before me and I'll come around night time."

"Okay, baby…. I'll take you to the hotel you'll stay in until then."

"Okay, that's possible." She said with a smile.

Minkus told the captain to start driving back to shore and then they both went to change their clothes.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Sorry, I'm late… did anything happen?" Josh said as he made his way out of the reception employees' locker room and stood in front of his computer.

"The hotel's owner Mr. Friar and his wife arrived… And Maya left this for you." His colleague said and handed him a white envelope before going back to his job.

Josh opened the envelope and found the bracelet that he'd given her inside. He looked at it in confusion before checking the envelope for any type of note, which he found one that had just one sentence in neat handwriting 'This can be a present for your real girlfriend.' Josh stood in his place, confused before turning to his colleague. "Is she working right now?"

"No… Her and Riley left the hotel with their suitcases about an hour ago… I heard that they quit their jobs." Josh gave him a nod and the guy went back to his work.

The hours flew by and while in Miami it was almost four in the afternoon, in LA it was barely noon. Topanga stood in her living room as she watched the people that Shawn got move the boxes into the moving van. "It hard to leave the place you've stayed in for a long time, isn't it?" Shawn said as he noticed her sad expression.

"Yeah… We also have a lot of memories in this house." She told him as she looked around.

"I think the memories stay with us no matter where we go."

"You're right." She said and gave them a small smile.

Meanwhile, a taxi parked in front of the house and a panicked Riley got out of it when she noticed people putting their stuff into the moving van. She hurriedly paid the taxi and ran into the house with her backpack as he unloaded her suitcase from the trunk.

"Mum!" She said in panic as she looked at the now pretty much empty house. Topanga hurried out when she heard Riley's voice.

"Riley?" She said in surprise as she hugged her.

"Mum, what's happening?" Riley said once they'd pulled away.

"What are you doing here, Riley? Did something happen?"

"Mum! Are we moving out?"

Topanga stepped back and her expression changed into a guilty, sad one. "I didn't want to tell you over the phone because I knew it would upset you… The house owner is selling it."

"What!?" Riley exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "How could he do that? Doesn't he have even an ounce of consideration? How can a person leave his house all of a sudden?!"

"His brothers insisted so he didn't have a choice, baby girl." Topanga said as she held her hands to calm her down.

"I can't believe this… Why didn't you tell me, mum? HOW could you not tell me?" Riley said pressing on the 'how'. "What are we going to do now?"

"Don't be upset, baby girl." Topanga told her softly and a slight smile took place on her face for the sake of her daughter. "The family that I work for has a penthouse that we'll stay in until I find a place… Our stuff will stay at their storage room until we move out and settle into a new house."

Riley's lips trembled as she fought hard not to cry. "We're staying at someone else's house? How can we do that, mum? How are we going to live there?" The tears finally made their way down her face.

"I know that it's hard, baby girl…. Trust me, it's is just as hard for me as well… But we need to lessen our debts a bit. We just need a place to stay in and I promise you that soon enough, we'll move into our own place."

"Mum… I shouldn't have left you alone and went to Miami… I'm so sorry." Riley said as she broke down crying and hugged her mother tightly.

"Oh don't cry, sweetie…. Don't cry." Topanga patted her back lovingly and Riley pulled away and frantically wiped her face.

"I will never leave you alone again, mum… I'll always stay with you no matter what… I'm so sorry." Topanga took hold of her face softly and wiped her tears away before kissing her cheeks. Riley leaned into her mother's hands and kissed her palm.

"Don't blame yourself, baby girl…"

"How can we leave this house and go, Mum?" Riley said sadly as she looked around the empty house from her place by the staircase.

"I don't know, Riley. I held you for the first time in this house. I fed you your first real meal in this house. You said your first words and took your first steps in this house… you grew up in this house and…. We spent our time with your father in this house. I don't know, baby girl…" Riley hugged her mum once again.

* * *

"Good job, Mr. Emad. You got the hotel ready in such a short period of time." Joseph said as he and Minkus walked through the second floor that had a few shopping stores and then the rooms.

"And here I thought that we wouldn't be able to open it this season…. We were given an amazing result in a short period of time." Minkus said.

"Thank you, sir. We did our best with this hotel… We still have a day of work for the other floor that we specified for businessmen and VIPS. We finished the first one so all we have left is that second one but aside from that, everything else is done."

"I hope that our guests like the place as much as we do." Joseph said with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure that they will." Emad answered.

"Everything is ready for the opening ceremony, right?" Minkus asked.

"Everything is completely ready, sir. We planned out everything for the ceremony according to the instructions that we received from Mr. Joseph…. We also invited the chosen guests only."

"That's great." Minkus said with a nod.

"You're gonna consider staying here after the ceremony, right?" Emad asked them.

"Unfortunately we need to go back to LA right after the ceremony… We'll take our sons with us as well." Joseph said with a small smile. "I think they've troubled you enough already."

"Not at all. We worked together throughout everything and especially with Mr. Farkle. He was pretty involved in everything since he came here." Emad said as he looked at Minkus and Joseph slightly glared at him so he cleared his throat. "Um… If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the company that is responsible for the ceremony. May I go?"

"Of course, Mr. Emad." Joseph said with a tight smile and Emad left right away. "And my son eats, drinks, sleeps and chills only. I don't know whether sending him here was a punishment or a reward." Joseph said as they started walking once again. "Did you see? He forgot everything about France now."

Minkus chuckled and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder, "Let's go eat, brother…. Come on."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Shawn helped the guys close the moving truck and smiled at Riley and Topanga as they made their way out of the house before getting into the car with the guys and driving off. Riley and Topanga came down the stairs and stood in front of the house and looked at it sadly as tears fell from Riley's eyes. She wiped them before getting into the taxi that Shawn called for them, her suitcase already in the trunk and Topanga looked at the house for a moment longer.

"Goodbye, Cory…" She said in a voice barely above a whisper with a sad smile on her face as she looked at the house before getting into the taxi and he drove off.

* * *

"Ah, Ella is here." Cathy said from her place at the table. They'd decided to have lunch at the restaurant that was outside so they were all sitting around the table. Ella gave a smile as everyone around the table looked at her as she made her way towards them dressed in a black maxi jumpsuit.

"Hey, how is everyone?" She said with a smile as she sat down beside Kayli who gave her a kiss on the cheek. Minkus looked at her with a soft smile on his face.

"Now, our family is complete." Cathy said with a grin and Ella smiled a little awkwardly. "Did you settle into your room? I hope that nothing is missing."

"I did, dear. Everything is perfect here." She said with a smile as a waitress came and put a plate filled with the food they'd all ordered, a fork, a spoon and a knife in front of her.

"Thank you, Ella." Joseph said with a grateful smile.

"I'm glad you like it." Minkus told her with the same soft smile and she gave a smile and a nod in return.

"Have a good meal everyone." Joseph said before glancing at Lucas then at Farkle. "Farkle, Thank you so much as well. You took care of everything during our absence."

Lucas stopped cutting up his piece of chicken steak at his father's words sensing the double meaning while Farkle smiled and said, "You're welcome, uncle."

Joseph gave him a smile before looking at Lucas, "I want to thank you as well, son." Lucas looked up from his plate and at his father. "I know that you helped him a lot. I hope you stay on the same behavior in LA."

Lucas gave a smile and nodded knowing that his father was making fun of him. "Okay, dad."

"Don't tire my kids out, Joseph. Let them live their lives." Cathy said, meaning Lucas and Farkle.

"I agree with you… It's not good for a person to be mature and hardworking 24/7…." Minkus said with a grin and Lucas, who was beside him, ginned.

"You're amazing, uncle!" Minkus looked at him and winked.

Caitlyn looked at Lucas and scoffed as she put her drink down. "He found a source of support so fast."

Farkle was annoyed once again with how his father was taking Lucas' side when all he did throughout their stay was cause unnecessary trouble not only for himself but for Riley and Farkle as well.

"Hmm… the food is really good as well." Ella said after her first bite.

"Yeah, very delicious…. I've been going against my diet ever since I came here and I've only been here for a few hours… I hope I don't gain weight."

"You won't, love…. You can balance your weight out." Ella said and Joseph listened while fighting his smile off.

"You don't need to worry… you look beautiful no matter what." Kayli told her with a smile.

"Oh, my sweet girl… You're the beautiful one, baby." Cathy told her and blew her a kiss while Caitlyn looked at Kayli in complete annoyance. She didn't like her and she thought that she was overrated in every way since she only looked good from the outside. She honestly doesn't know what Lucas likes in her. She was just happy that her brother is dating a sweetheart like Riley unlike Lucas. She didn't know that they broke up already.

* * *

The Taxi stopped in front of the Friar's household and Riley and her mother made their way in after paying and taking Topanga's and Riley's suitcases with them. They stopped in front of the penthouse's door and Riley looked at her mother. "Are we gonna stay here from now on?"

From the outside, it looked really small as if it was just a bedroom. Topanga nodded and Riley tried to give her a small smile as they went inside. Topanga told Riley to leave the suitcases for her so Riley looked around the place while Topanga rolled the suitcases inside.

She looked around the big living room that had a dining table in it as well. It had dark teal walls and TV was hanged on the wall that was in front of a grey couch with its two loveseats. The couches had floral throw-on pillows that went well with the teal wall. A white carpet was placed on the wooden coffee table tying everything together a bit. To the right of the door, there was a closet that Riley guessed was made for shoes since it was right by the door. Then there was two doors, each door on one side of the living room. One of them was a bit far from the living room so Riley guessed that it's the bathroom.

To the far left of the room, it had a counter that had a kettle, a water tap and sink, and a coffee maker. It also had a cabinet on top that had clear glass that Riley saw the few cups and mugs that were placed inside.

"Riley… Do you want me to show you your room?" Topanga asked with a small smile and Riley nodded with a small smile as well. Topanga led her towards the door that was near the living room and opened it. The room wasn't small but it wasn't large as well. It was big enough that it had two singular beds with their two night stands, a closet, an off-white dressing table and another night stand that was for clothes. The walls were painted in a pale blue color that complemented the off-white color of the night stand and the headrest very well. The beds had coral sheets and three pillows. Another off-white carpet was placed on the floor as well. The room was big enough that it had all of that and you still had room to add stuff into the room and even then, you'd still have empty space.

Riley moved inside the room some more and put her backpack on the bed that was right by the floor length window. She looked at the frames that were hanged on the walls. One wall had three frames in a staircase like pattern and they had 'Live well', 'Love much', and 'Laugh often'. Each two words were on a different frame in cursive writing. Riley looked at her mother and gave her a small smile. Although the house wasn't bad, it wasn't anything like their own.

"Baby girl… We'll stay here for a short time, I promise." Topanga told her as she took hold of her hands. "But… If you still feel upset with staying here then just tell me, can you do that for me?"

Riley nodded and hugged her mother before they decided to unpack. The closet wasn't a walk in one like the one Riley had in their house but it was fairly big as it took up half of the wall. Riley opened the doors and started hanging the clothes on the hangers then hanging them inside as Topanga did the same. She then folded what needed to be folded and put in inside the drawers of the third night stand in their room that had many drawers. When she was done with that she took her shoes and put them in the closet that was by the door and as she'd guessed it was indeed for shoes. Shoes, bags and coats.

By the time she was done with everything, it was already night time, a little bit past eight in the evening. She put on black skinny legged jean overalls along with a lacy white top underneath that had flowy, wide full sleeves and a pair of black converse. She kept her hair down and decided not to apply any makeup since she's just meeting Maya for like an hour or so. She informed her mother that she's leaving and went to meet Maya at a park near the beach.

When Riley arrived, Maya was already there sitting on a bench so she joined her. "Peaches…" Riley said once she reached her and Maya stood up and hugged her.

"Pumpkin…" Riley tightened her arms around Maya. "Are you okay?"

They pulled away and sat down on the bench. "How can I be okay, Maya? I came back and found my house gone… We were left completely homeless."

"Off… What did you do then? Were you able to settle?"

"What settling are you talking about, peaches?! It's just a room as big as my old living room and divided into a living room and a bedroom. Our furniture and everything else are left in freaking storage room."

"Off… Wasn't there another option?"

"I don't know… What will my mother do? The house is sold and the guy told us to move out as soon as possible and the poor lady was by herself through all that. She probably couldn't find a suitable house so that was her only option…. I don't know what mum would've done if it wasn't for Katy."

"She must've felt so upset and helpless."

"Can she not? And she's not telling me anything so that I don't get upset… I totally let her down… I told her that I'll go earn money but I couldn't do anything and came back with a month's salary… I'm left jobless and homeless."

"Pumpkin… Don't blame yourself… You have nothing to do with this. I'll stay by your side and help you get a job as soon as possible."

"My life turned upside down, Maya." Riley told her with a helpless shrug of her shoulder. "I don't know what to do now…. I went to Miami thinking that it's a good opportunity to earn money and then when things got bad… I wanted to come back to my home but now my home is also gone…. Gone, Maya!"

"How could we have known, Riles? What did we dream of by going to Miami?" Maya said with a sad expression on her face.

"Everything went downhill because of those two stupid jerks…. 'Leave them alone… Just focus on what you're here for'… Why didn't I listen to myself?"

"Well… We _did_ enjoy our time." Maya said with a grin and Riley glared at her. "Especially you." Maya giggled making Riley giggle as well. "You went on the biggest adventures of your entire life."

"Oh yeah…. I'm still surprised. When I think about it, how could things like these happen to _me?"_ She said with a grin. "We had a few laughs and enjoyed some time but we paid for it in the end."

"BUT we wouldn't have enjoyed it if we hadn't paid a price in return." Maya told her and Riley shook her head with a faint smile. "What about Josh? I still can't believe what he did to me…. I mean… who would've thought that he's like that?"

"Yeah… In my opinion, I think that was the biggest disappointment in our trip."

Maya sighed before shaking her head, "Anyways, let's not talk about this anymore…. Everything will go fine from now on…. You'll see. We'll find an amazing, suitable job very soon and your mother has a job as well… You found somewhere to stay in for now and we'll find somewhere that is a lot better and more comfortable very soon."

Riley nodded before looking at her lap, "That house was my childhood, Maya. I've always felt the warmth of my dad in that house…. Whether it's a mansion or a palace, no house will ever feel as comfortable as _home_ , Maya…"

"I know, pumpkin…. But your mum is by your side and your dad will always be in your heart wherever you go…. Please stop making yourself upset, Riles…. Look, Topanga is with you… and as long as she is, everything will be better and a lot easier. Trust me when I tell you… I know better when it comes to this topic…. Remember… I've had to give up the house I grew up in with my parents after they died to live with grandma… and when she died I've had to give up her house to live with my brother… because he was with me all through it, everything turned out all right in the end…. I only have my brother… I don't even remember my parents since I was so young… but I'm alright now, aren't I?"

Maya got teary eyed while talking so Riley grabbed her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Maya… I mad you upset as well…" They pulled away and Riley suddenly had that determined expression on her face. "You're right… We have to be strong no matter what. We can get through everything."

"That's the attitude, girl!"

"It's good that I came here to talk to you… I would've gone made if I'd stayed in that house."

"I'll be there for you whether you need me or not, pumpkin." Maya told her with a grin.

"Thank you, Peaches."

"Alright! What are we going to do tomorrow?" Maya said excitedly.

"We'll look for jobs, of course." Riley said with that same determined expression.

"It's a deal! You'll see! Everything will be amazingly fine." Riley nodded with a hopeful face. "What should we do now? Should we go for a walk?"

"Yeah." Riley smiled at her and they both got up and linked their arms together.

* * *

The opening ceremony went really well and now they were at the after party which was held at the hotel as well. Everyone was super dressed up and the atmosphere was perfectly fine. Even the weather seemed to agree with them because it had the perfect amount of breeze to mask the hot summer weather.

"Oh, you look so pretty, Kayli!" Cathy said in awe as Kayli made her way towards her with Ella, both having just made their way into the party.

"Thank you so much, Cathy. You look really pretty and elegant as well." Kayli answered with a smile. She was wearing a nude and black dress that was backless, or seemed backless as the back is in nude, and had a pattern on the front in black and the skirt was black as well. She kept her makeup very simple as she just applied a settle shimmery eyeshadow and a few coats of mascara as well as fake lashes and a simple nude pink lip gloss. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and a pair of diamond earrings. **(AN: Her (Perrie) look from the 'this is us premiere')**

"Thank you, darling…." She gave her a smile before looking at Ella. "Ella… you look beautiful!" She led her to the table she was standing by.

"You enjoy your time and I'll go with the others." Kayli told them with a smile and they both nodded so she headed towards the table that had Lucas, Caitlyn, Ian and Farkle gathered around it.

"Congratulations once again, Cathy…. Everything here looks amazing." Ella gushed as she looked around her.

"I know right? I've been telling myself that we should have the Kayli and Lucas' wedding here." She told her with a grin.

"Oh… Great idea… Why not?" Ella said as she looked at their table where they were laughing loudly at something while Lucas had an arm wrapped around Kayli's waist.

"Thank god that they solved whatever problems were between them."

"Yeah… That made me happy too." Ella said then her eyes fell on Minkus who was just two tables away from them. He was saying goodbye to someone and when he looked ahead his eyes met Ella's and he gave her a smile.

"Oh… I was going to greet our guests so I'll go greet them and be back." Cathy said and Ella nodded with a smile. She smiled at Minkus as she passed him and he smiled back at her. He looked back at Ella then without her noticing, typed something on his phone then her phone dinged so she took out of her clutch.

 **You look stunning. –Minkusxx**

She looked at him and shook her head with a smile before discreetly typing on her phone.

 **And you look really hot. –Ellaxox**

She sent it and stuck her phone back into her clutch as she saw him smile.

"Daddy, who are you texting?" Caitlyn said as she laid a hand on his shoulder, startling him. She was wearing a burgundy two-pieced dress that had a beaded halter crop top and a flared chiffon skirt that went a little bit past her mid-thighs. She paired it with nude pumps that had a burgundy bow on it that matched the color of her dress. She curled her hair and kept it down and kept her makeup simple with a soft smoky eye and a bold lip.

"Texting? What texting are you talking about?" He laughed nervously. "I was just checking my e-mails…. Hey, you're not taking any pictures tonight… what happened to that habit of yours to take pictures all the time?"

Caitlyn smiled at him, "Let's take one then, daddy." She said and took her phone out of her black clutch before placing it on the table. She raised her phone up to take a selfie.

"Wait, wait… I'm here too." Farkle said from behind them. Caitlyn turned her head and smiled at him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and the other around his father's, sticking his head between theirs since he was taller that both of them. Caitlyn raised her phone up again and they all smiled as she took the picture then another one for -you guessed it- her snapchat. Then her and Farkle headed back to their table where they took a group photo then a few individuals with Lucas, Ian and Kayli.

Ella was watching all of this with a small sad smile on her face. Seeing the three of them like this, she didn't really see a place for her between them. As Minkus made his way towards her, she looked around before looking back at him with a small smile.

"Oh, Minkus…" She said in a surprised tone to make it seem like she wasn't watching them.

"I never took my eyes off of you since you came into the party." He told her in a soft tone making her smile, a real smile. They stood there and talked with each other but what they didn't know was Cathy's eyes that were watching them as she and Joseph talked with some guests. She then decided to go to them so she excused herself and took her drink with her as she made her way to their table.

"Ehm… Cathy is coming." Ella mumbled to Minkus as she stood straighter. When she reached them he smiled at her and said goodbye to Ella, pretending to wave at someone who called for him.

"Ah I was so busy with the guests that I still hadn't had one sip from my drink." Cathy complained jokingly before noticing Ella's drink. "Oh you didn't drink yours either." Ella was still watching Minkus so Cathy giggled, grabbing her attention. "You know Ella, I've been watching you two for a while." She told her with a smile. "You and Minkus look really good together. I think you suit each other."

Ella laughed loudly, "Where did you come up with that, Cathy?"

"I don't know, I just felt it… Minkus is a really good man… I'm sure that he'll make you very happy…. You've been alone for years, honey… you deserve to be happy."

Ella awkwardly looked around her, avoiding Cathy's eyes. "Cathy…"

"Look… I only said this because I care about you, Ella."

"I know, dear… I'll tell you something, Cath." Ella said as a small smile took place on her face. "There is… something between me and Minkus. But it's fairly new and…. No one knows about it."

Cathy grinned, happy that Ella finally told her. "I can't believe this! You have no idea how happy I am for you… I'm so happy for you, Ella!" They talked for a few minutes as Ella explained to her why she doesn't want to tell people until they talk to Kayli, Caitlyn and Farkle first. They then looked at the table where Minkus and Joseph were standing with two pretty ladies. "I think we should go to them."

"I think so too." They linked hands and made their way to their men.

 **(An; Okay you guys, open your minds up for this next part cause it might seem a bit confusing. Italic is Riley.)**

As they were standing talking with each other, 'I can feel my face' that was covered by Megan Nicole started playing. Coincidence, right?

Everyone around him started moving to the song and Lucas zoned out. A smile took place on his face as the image of Riley dancing around to the song in The Bahamas made their way into his mind and suddenly it was as if he went back in time to the morning of the day before.

 _Riley made her way into 'her room' and played her favorite playlist on shuffle. She opened her drawer to look for something to wear to bed when the same cover of I can't feel my face by Megan Nicole started playing. She smiled to herself before going back to her drawer where her eyes immediately fell on the white V-neck that Lucas got her that turned out to be a couple's t-shirt. She took it out and as she looked at it, she remembered the memory of when her and Lucas discovered that it was couple's t-shirts after the sales assistant pointed it out._

 **(AN; For this part it's both Lucas and Riley's thoughts)**

It was like the song had some magic to it as flashes of their encounters flashed in front of their eyes as if they went back to these encounters. Flashes of their first meeting when the cake fell on Riley's head, their second meeting at the airport when she fell into his arms, when she crashed a glass bottle on top of the guy's head and they had to run out of the club together, when he carried her into his room that night because she fainted then ended up throwing up on him, their night in the ship, when he pulled her into the pool, when she crashed the car into the tree, when they had to run away from the bees so he took her on his back into the ocean… Everything. While living most of these moments, they were fairly annoyed but now as they're looking back at them, they're smiling. Whether they like it or not, they realise that some of these moments were actually fun.

Lucas' smile widened as he remembered how she'd hit him on the arm when he said something she didn't like or inappropriate and how peaceful she looked while sleeping.

 _Riley's smile also widened as she remembered how he always reached out to steady her whenever she stumbled while walking and how his arms would always go around her waist when she'd fall on him like that time when she fell off the tree or on top of him on the bed. She remembered their kiss and for unknown reason, she started feeling some butterflies in her stomach._

Lucas' smiling expression turned into a slightly confused one as he remembered their kiss. At the time, he didn't know what had possessed him into kissing her but he can't really say that he regrets it. Thinking about it brought back the same sensation he felt in his stomach when he'd kissed her. A sensation that he never felt with Kayli, or any other girl for that matter. A sensation that he didn't know how to define.

"Babe, C'mon they're waiting for us." He was shaken out of his thoughts by Kayli who grabbed onto his arm. They turned around towards the photographers who were indeed waiting for them. Lucas put an arm around her waist as she wrapped both arms around his and they both smiled brightly as the photographer took their picture.

Although that specific song cover wasn't romantic, it meant a lot to them and whether they liked it or not, it'll always remind them of each other.

* * *

 **I originally finished this the day before yesterday and I don't know why but the site wouldn't open on my laptop. Literally all the other sites like google, facebook, etc were working just fine but Fanfiction just wouldn't open.**

 **That last part was a bit hard for me to write especially when I was listing what they remembered because I didn't want it to be boring. I wanted it to be sweet where you'll go like 'Awwwww' and stuff so I'm sorry if it's a bit boring. Also, sorry if it seemed too sad for you.**

 **Next chapter we're gonna have one or two fun Rucas scenes and some confusion on both sides but not feelings-confusion.**

 **As usual, what do you think will happen next? How and when do you think they'll run into each other again?**

 **Don't forget to review and may I remind you, I like long reviews and I like it when you guys express your thoughts in the reviews, makes me feel like I'm connecting with you.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	16. Chapter 16: I love you so much

The morning rolled in and Riley was sitting up cross legged in bed, looking through today's newspaper hoping to find a job. She came across an article about the opening ceremony so she stopped to read it then noticed the pictures that were attached with the article. There was a picture of Lucas and Kayli alone with their hands around each other, then a picture of Ian, Kayli, Lucas, Farkle and Caitlyn together then a picture of the place. She scowled at how they were smiling as if they hadn't made her life upside down before she angrily closed that newspaper and threw it aside.

She took another one from the ones she had packed beside her and started circling the job ads that she thought were suitable for her. Most of them were for bakeries, cafés, restaurants, supermarkets… etc.

In the kitchen, Topanga was working on breakfast as the Friars were on their way back from the airport.

"Elona, are you done with cleaning the house?" Katy asked the servant who'd just made her way into the kitchen.

"Yes, Mrs. Katy."

"You ventilated the second floor, didn't you? They haven't been used in a few days."

"Don't worry, I did." Elona said and Katy nodded so she left.

"Topanga, you told Riley, right? Don't let them see her here until you talk to Mrs. Friar." Katy said and Topanga stopped what she was doing to look at her.

"I told her, don't worry. She has a few job interviews anyways…. She's probably getting ready or even out by now." Katy nodded with a relieved smile.

Riley stood in front of her dressing table's mirror and looked at her hair that she had straightened. She had decided to wear a pair of black ripped jeans, a blue plaid button up that she left undone and a white tank top with a pair of white converse. She sat down on a chair beside the front door to put on her converse just as a car parked in their driveway.

Lucas made his way past the penthouse just as Riley was about to open it and thankfully, neither of them noticed the other. She got out to and looked around her and was met with Lucas' back as he headed inside but she didn't recognize him. She heard voiced so she hurriedly got back inside, cursing quietly as she saw a man and a woman in their late forties probably walk by with Katy behind them. She guessed that these were the house owners that her mother warned her not to appear in front of.

"They had the perfect timing to arrive!" She huffed as she sat down on her bed. "I'll have to go out later, what am I gonna do?!" she laid back on her bed in frustration.

Cathy and Joseph made their way into the living room where Lucas was already sitting on the couch.

"Should we get you something to eat?" Katy asked them politely.

"No, thank you… We already ate on the plane ride." Joseph told her with a small smile as Topanga made her way into the living room.

"Welcome back, Mr. and Mrs. Friar. I hope you had a nice trip." Topanga greeted with a small bow of her head as Lucas stared at her, confused a little but already liking her.

"Oh… Mr. Lucas, this is the new cook, Topanga Mathews." Katy introduced and Topanga adverted her eyes to the young man who stood up from the couch.

"Nice to meet you." He said with a soft smile.

"Nice to meet you, too." Just by looking at him, Topanga couldn't understand how that young man in front of her, is the same one who causes all the problems she heard from Katy.

"Lucas… You'll really like Topanga's cooking." Joseph told him with a grin.

"Well if these words are coming from such a gourmet like you dad, then I can't wait to try your food, Mrs. Mathews." Lucas told her with a polite smile which she returned. They were interrupted with the sound of a dog barking from the outside of the house so Lucas looked at Katy with an excited glint in his eyes. "Is Rocky back from his training?"

"Yes, he was brought back this morning." Katy informed.

"Oh, I missed him so much… Where is he? The backyard?"

"Yes."

"I'll go see Rocky then." Lucas informed them and made his way towards his room to get to the backyard.

"Would you like some coffee to take away your tiredness?" Katy asked Joseph and Cathy.

"Yeah… I'll have coffee but Katy, from now on I want my coffee plain." Cathy answered.

"Yes, Ma'am… What about you, Mr. Joseph?"

"I will too but let us change our clothes first then we'll come back down." Katy nodded and they both left towards their room.

"Good morning, Mr. Lucas. Would you like to have anything?" Elona asked him when he made his way into his room that she had just finished vacuuming.

"Let me have something to eat… A cold sandwich and orange juice would be good." He told her with a smile. He seemed happy to be back home as if Florida was really a punishment.

"Alright, I'll bring it right away."

"Okay… I'll be in the backyard." She nodded and he got out through the glass doors/windows that lead to the backyard since his room was on the first floor. He ran towards the stairs that lead towards where his dog's house was placed. "Rocky! I missed you, buddy… How are you?" The blue eyed golden retriever excitedly barked at his owner as he tried to get out of his cage. "You missed me, too? Come on show me what you learned." He opened the cage's door and the dog excitedly came out to stand by Lucas' feet.

"Sit." Lucas ordered while pointing down and the door sat down. "Lay down." Again, the dog did as told. "Roll around." Lucas rolled his hand around and the dog did what Lucas said. "Good boy, Rocky!" Lucas told him with a grin and held his hand out, which the dog put his own claw in it. Lucas kept playing with him and the dog kept barking out of happiness that Lucas was back.

"Where does that dog barking come from?" Riley wondered to herself as she opened the curtain to look. The window by her bed had a good view of the place where the dog's house was so she was able to see a guy's back as he was playing with a dog. She guesses that it's the same guy that she saw earlier from the red t-shirt he was wearing.

"Riley?" Topanga asked as she saw Riley sitting on her bed. "You didn't leave?"

"No, mum… I couldn't leave… I came back hurriedly into the house as I saw them coming." Riley explained. "You said that you'll talk to them first, you haven't talked to them yet, have you?"

"No, I'll talk to them soon… I don't think they'll say anything but I'm not sure either… You did good, baby girl. Don't let them see you until I talk to them." Riley nodded and Topanga kissed her cheek. The barking came back so Riley opened the curtain again.

"Do they own a dog?"

"Yeah… It's their son's dog. The dog just came back from a training center… Riley… even their dog is educated!" Riley laughed along with her mother at the joke. "I met their son… He's a guy your age. He looks like a good guy but… don't come out too much. They could say something."

"Don't worry, mummy." Riley assured her with a smile and Topanga kissed her forehead.

"Mrs. Topanga!" Elona called from the living room so both Riley and Topanga made their way out of the bedroom. She had a basket full of clothes in her arms and another one by her feet. "Can you make a cold sandwich and orange juice, please? They just came back from a trip and there's a ton of laundry to do."

"I can help you, if you want." Riley offered with a smile.

"That would be great… Thank you." Riley carried the basket that was by her feet and the three of them went out of the penthouse.

Riley and Elona headed towards the laundry room and started separating the clothes into piles. "Did you separate the white clothes, Riley?"

"I'm separating them right now." Riley said with a nod and Elona got up from her squatting position.

"Put the blacks in this basket and any other colors in this one." She pointed to the baskets and Riley nodded before Elona got out of the laundry room.

Riley took out the next piece of clothing that was a pair of grey boxer briefs that had small hearts and pink and blue cursive writing. It looked like something that a girl would wear so she giggled to herself before throwing it into the colors basket. Next was a white shirt that she was holding with the back facing her. Through the back she made out a very familiar print so she turned it around to see what she'd guessed. It was a Bahamas shirt similar to hers that Lucas bought for himself when they were there. Flashes of him wearing it came to her mind as she stared at the article of clothing in confusion.

"Tsc… It's probably not like you think… We're probably not the only ones that own this shirt in the world." She said to herself before throwing it into the white items basket.

"Here you go." Topanga said as she handed Lucas, who came into the kitchen, a tray with his sandwich and juice on it.

Lucas took the plate and cup from the tray, "Thank you." He said before turning towards the kitchen table before halting his steps as he saw a bag hanging down from the chair's back. You guessed it, it was the same Bahamas bag that he bought for Riley. He stared at it with a confused smile as he remembered telling her that he'll buy it for her back when they were at that store in the Bahamas. He shook his head and mumbled to himself, "No… She's probably not the only one who has this bag in the world."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

At the same time at the Minkus' household, they also arrived home. Farkle had a prominent frown on his face throughout the entire plane ride and he looked really tired.

"Dad… Are you going to the company later?" He asked tiredly when they got out of the car.

"Yeah…"

"Alright then… Let's go together." His father nodded with a confused frown on his face then watched Farkle walk ahead into the house, his entire body language saying that he's feeling down.

Minkus stopped walking making Caitlyn stop as well. "Cait… Do you know what's wrong with your brother? He looks really upset."

She looked at her brother's figure and sighed. "What isn't wrong with him? He broke up wit his girlfriend."

"He had a new girlfriend?" Minkus was even more confused now.

"Yeah… If only you'd seen her, dad… She was such a nice girl."

"Why did he break up with her then?"

Caitlyn started walking, feeling annoyed by the sun falling on her pare legs and Minkus followed her. "You know how my brother is… He doesn't like to share those things that much… But I know the reason… It's because of Miley."

"Miley?! Did that girl appear again?"

"Yes… She saw my brother happy in a picture that Kayli posted… That wicked bitch!" Minkus didn't care if Caitlyn said words like 'bitch' in front of him so that was why she said it comfortably. They went inside the house and stood by the door as they talked. "She's been calling my brother and trying to mess with his head… but my brother will never make up with her."

"Look, Cait… It's possible that he wouldn't but… He'll be really upset if he heard you talking that way about her." Caitlyn scowled as she looked at the staircase to make sure that Farkle isn't there.

"I don't like her dad. You know that." She hissed. "Don't you know how much she made my brother upset? What he went through for her? But what did she do in return? She ruined their relationship because of how selfish she is."

"Talking about her like that is still wrong, Cait. Despite everything you just said…. What they went through together is their own matter only."

"Yes but no one can make my brother upset… Pardon me, dad… Whether it's you or my brother, if anyone makes you upset they'll find me against them." Caitlyn stated sharply and Minkus couldn't help but smile slightly.

"That's my girl." He grinned and kissed her forehead making her giggle. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they moved towards the staircase and the living room. "Look, don't say bad things about Miley in front of your brother, okay?"

Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a huff. "Okay, I won't… I'll go up to my room now." Minkus nodded and she headed up the stairs while he went to the living room.

"Yes, Miley?" Since her room was right next to Farkle's, as she was going inside her room she heard him on the phone through his slightly open door. She stopped to hear his phone call.

"No I'm not in Miami, I'm back in LA." He said sharply. "There's absolutely no need for you to come here, Miley. There really is nothing for us to talk about." Caitlyn greeted her teeth and scowled at how wicked Miley was. "I have work to do right now. I'm hanging up." With that he hanged up without giving her a chance to say anything.

Caitlyn made her way into her room and closed her door behind her. "What a shameless bitch… She's still going after my brother until now…. He doesn't want you anymore." She muttered to herself as she took off her plaid shirt dress that was unbuttoned and was left with a white shirt dress that she had with it. She changed into a pair of loose printed shorts and a loose white Tee that she tucked into the shorts from the front after tying the strings.

She then called her friend Sofia to tell her that she's back before she started unpacking her suitcases.

A couple of hours later, Minkus and Farkle made their way out of the house dressed into their formal work attire.

"Good morning." Sofia said as she got out of the taxi that had just arrived at their house.

"Good Morning, Sofia." Minkus greeted with a smile.

"Hello." Farkle said somewhat quietly with a very faint smile.

"How are you, Sofia?" Minkus asked her.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Caitlyn is inside." He informed her.

"Alright… Have a good day, Bye!" She said with a smile before she skipped into the house.

"Son… Come with me in my car… We'll talk a little bit and they'll bring your car over to the company." Farkle nodded and they got inside the backseat together. They stayed silent for a few minutes as the driver drove them before Minkus turned to his son. "Farkle…. What wrong? You seem a little down."

Farkle shook his head, "I'm okay, dad."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He nodded and his lips formed a tight line as he sighed. "Yes but… It seems like Caitlyn informed you with everything according to what I understood."

"She didn't say anything… She just talked about your new girlfriend." Minkus thought about whether to say his next words or not before deciding to just say it. "And that Miley called… That's all she said."

"Well it's good that she didn't say anything… She loves interfering with my personal life."

"It's because she's worried about you, Farkle."

"There's no need to be worried."

"Look, son… I'm not gonna give you advices but… Who upsets you once, is bond to upset you again and again. It's very important for both sides to trust each other in a relationship… I went through that a thousand times." Minkus shook his head as he remembered his struggles with his wife that he loved more than anything when they got married.

"Are you talking about mum? I was young at the time but I can remember everything really well." Farkle said sadly without looking at his father.

"Nothing good comes out of a relationship if all the trust is gone or if something inside you is ripped out."

"You're right… The same amount of excitement doesn't stay inside a person even if he'll forgive…"

"Farkle… Me and you sister want you to be happy more than anything and to be valued and cared about by those you care about just as much as you value and care about… just know that, okay?" He patted Farkle's leg and Farkle nodded.

"I know that, dad."

Minkus smiled faintly as he decided to sneak another advice into their conversation, "Your new girlfriend is a very nice girl…. I mean, Caitlyn doesn't grow to like a person easily… If you broke up with that girl because of Miley, then I think you should think about it again." They both looked at each other and Minkus spoke with a faint smile on his face. "She could be the love of your life…. I don't want you to let her go now and then when you finally realize what she means to you… It's too late for you to do anything about it…. Think about it again when you still can fix it, Farkle."

Farkle stared ahead as he thought about his father's words. He wasn't romantically attracted to Riley but like Ian said, the girl is so nice that he could get attracted to her with time. The question was, did he want to give it time and give Riley a chance? He didn't know the answer to that question though.

Back at the Minkus' house, Caitlyn and Sofia were sitting on the couch in the living room as Sofia looked at her pictures from the trip. "Ahh! You look so good together!" Sofia said as she saw Caitlyn and Ian's picture from when they were at the beach. "You look so mature and grown up when you're next to Ian… Like a lady not a teenager."

"Let me see…" She leaned towards her as Sofia showed her the picture that they took together right when they arrived at the hotel. "He makes me mad though when he keeps calling me little."

"Maybe because you're so short." Sofia joked before scrolling to the next picture which was their group picture from that day on the beach with Riley. Sofia zoomed on Farkle and Riley. "Awww! They look so good together!"

"They do, don't they? If you saw how nice Riley was… She's such a sweetheart."

"She looks nice…. Why did they break up?"

"My brother refuses to say but I already know… it's because of Miley. She's sticking to him like a piece of tap again." Caitlyn said with a scowl.

"The girl probably go mad when Miley called… She has every right to be mad." Sofia said as Caitlyn had already told her that night about Miley's call.

"She called again today… She's trying to meet up with my brother."

"She's doing all that and your brother keeps rejecting her… She's really a piece of tap… I hope they don't get back together."

"No, babe… That's too extreme… My brother will never be with her again."

"In my opinion, don't be so sure…. Don't you know Miley, Cait? She does everything and finds a way to affect your brother. She keeps calling your brother while she knows that he has a girlfriend."

"Yeah… What kind of girl is she? She's scary…. I have to do everything in my abilities to get Farkle and Riley back together or else my brother will forgive Miley and I'll never be able to take that."

"Well I hope that your brother doesn't get mad with your interference."

"Let him be mad if he wants to. If he'll be with Miley again then he'll find me against him again."

"What are you gonna do then? How are you gonna get them back together?" Caitlyn thought about it before a smile took place on her face.

"I'll find a way… but first, I need to get Riley's phone number."

* * *

"Honey… All the newspaper wrote very nice things about our hotel's opening ceremony." Cathy told Joseph who was sipping on his coffee beside her on the couch while she looked through the news sites on her iPad.

"Really? That's great!" He said with a grin.

"Oh look at that picture! It's Lucas and Kayli!" She showed him the picture with a grin. "They look so good… They're saying that they're the couple of the year…. Everyone is waiting for their marriage now. Should we have their engagement party at the end of this summer, Joseph?" She asked excitedly.

"Cathy, please don't rush things. Lucas is still young… do you think he is mature enough to carry this type of responsibility?"

"But honey, we can fix that."

"Cathy, we shouldn't interfere with this at all. I need Lucas to take that decision on his own…. It'll happen when they're both ready for it to happen."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Kayli… I'm going to the company, alright?" Ella said as she made her way into the living room where Kayli was laying on the couch, lazily scrolling through the TV channels.

Kayli huffed as she sat up and turned to look at her mother. "What am I gonna do then? Why did we come back to the UK? I'm so bored."

"What else were we supposed to do?"

"We could've went to LA…. Cathy insisted that we do."

Ella crossed her arms as she looked at her daughter. "I told you, I have work to do."

"I could've went with them at least." Ella sighed and sat down beside her daughter.

"Kayli… I told you that we don't need to be that close. A little bit of distance is always good… at least until you marry each other." Kayli huffed. "Don't huff at me, Kayli."

Kayli sighed before turning to her mother, "Mom… I have nothing that makes me stay here. Lucas is in LA and I'm in the UK… That way everything is harder for us. Besides, more than half your work is in the LA… What if we get a house there? We'll at least be a bit more comfortable." Kayli gave her best 'cute/hopeful' expression that was her mother's weakness.

"Well… you're probably right… Let me think about it." Kayli grinned and hugged her mom.

"Really? Lucas will be really happy when he hears about that." They pulled away with smiles on their face.

"Great… Tell me what's the schedule for today then?"

"I don't know… I'll probably go shopping or something." Kayli said with a shrug.

Ella smiled at her before saying goodbye and leaving the house While Kayli took her phone and excitedly dialed a number.

"Good boy! High five!" Lucas told Rocky as he held his hand up which Rocky high fived. "Go catch!" He threw the ball away and Rocky went after it. Lucas took his ringing phone out of his pocket. "Hey, babe."

"Love, what are you doing?" Kayli asked happily.

"I'm at home playing with Rocky, what about you?"

"I'm home too… I have really good news for you!" Lucas nodded with a smile as if she can see him. "I'm moving to LA!" She exclaimed excitedly and the smile immediately fell off Lucas' face.

"What? Why? I mean… where did that idea come from?"

"What do you mean with where did that idea come from? Aren't you happy?"

"How can I not be happy, babe? I was just surprised that's all… When are you moving?"

"My mom will start looking for a house as soon as possible. We'll probably move soon." If only she could see Lucas' dreadful expression. He wasn't not anywhere near excited about this as she is. "It's gonna be so nice, Lucas… We'll be able to spend time together whenever we want."

"Yeah… That will be very nice." Lucas said before Rocky came back to him with his leash between his teeth before dropping it on the ground in front of Lucas, who squatted down as he ruffled his head. "Does my boy want to go on a walk? Babe, how about we talk later?"

"Okay, love… Have a good day." They hanged up and Lucas tied the leash in its place around Rocky's neck thingy and headed towards the gate with Rocky.

Joseph was just about to get into his car as he saw Lucas who smile at him. "Hey dad."

"Hey Lucas." Joseph said with a smile as he stared at Lucas waiting for him to speak. Lucas frowned in confusion. "I'm going to work." Lucas nodded with a smile. "You should come too, if you want."

"I just came back from Miami and I worked a lot there, dad." Lucas said in tired tone. "Let me rest for a bit."

"Oh yeah I forget… It's not easy at all… You spent every day under the sun while inhaling fresh air and getting into the ocean, salty water… Then the pool, nice water… That must've been very tiring and hard." Joseph said sarcastically.

"No matter what I do, you're never happy with it… I honestly don't know what I need to do… I'm telling you that I did work but you don't believe me."

"You sure have a way with words…. Rest up for a few days anyways… I have really good plans for you… Just wait for those few days and see." Joseph said with a smile before waving at him and getting into the car.

"I'm can't leave the house until now, Maya… I had to come back into the house when the owners came back and now I'm helping with the laundry…. You go ahead and do you job interview, I don't want to make you wait." Riley spoke through the phone.

"No, Pumpkin… that's not possible. I'll wait for you… We'll go through this together." Maya said making Riley smile a little. "I'll wait for you… Just try to get out of the house as soon as possible, okay?"

"Alright, I'll hurry… See you."

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Topanga… Mr. Joseph left so let's go talk to Mrs. Cathy." Katy said as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Now?" Topanga asked nervously and Katy nodded. "How about you go before I do and check if she's in a good mood or not?"

"Don't worry from now… I don't even think that she'll refuse." Katy assured. "She loved you! Especially your food."

Topanga was still not convinced that it'll go well so they talked a bit until Katy finally convinced her. She took off her apron and they headed towards the living room where Cathy looked up upon hearing their feet clicking.

"I was about to call you… For today's dinner, make it light. My diet got so messed up in Miami… You had such a nice program for me, Topanga."

"Don't worry at all… We'll get that program back in no time. I'll make a very good list for you tomorrow morning." Topanga said with a smile and Cathy nodded with a smile. "Mrs. Cathy… I'd like to talk to you about something, if you're free." Topanga said in a nervous tone.

"Of course… what is it?" Cathy asked in concern as she looked at Katy and Topanga back and forth.

"My daughter was working outside of LA and was supposed to stay there until summer is over but she had to leave her job and came back…. I wanted to ask you if she can stay here with me for a short period of time."

"Um… I don't know what to say but… I don't want a young girl living at my house, to be honest… As you know, Lucas is still young… Lucas won't try to do anything with your daughter of course but…" She trailed off and Topanga frowned.

"My daughter knows her limits anyways…"

Cathy shook her head, "No… You misunderstood…. Lucas has a very serious relationship anyways… that's what I mean. You know how the youth are these days, their heads get messed with because of the smallest of accidents… that's what I meant to say… Better safe than sorry, right?" Cathy explained nervously.

"I understand." Topanga said with a nod and went to leave but Katy stopped her.

"Mrs. Cathy… Riley is a very mature, grown up young lady… You won't even feel like she's here. They'll stay here for a short while anyways… Riley would never do something to upset you since she's a sweetheart… Just trust me please." Katy explained with a small smile.

Cathy looked at both of them, noticing Topanga's hopeful look. "okay… I'm really happy with your work and I really like you, Topanga… That's why I agreed to this."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Cathy." Topanga thanked her and they went back to the kitchen after excusing themselves.

"It feels like I'm in prison…. I can't even get out of the house." Riley muttered to herself as she sat on her bed. Her mother made her way towards her hurriedly so she stood up. "Mum, how did it go?"

"She agreed."

"I'm relieved now." Riley said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Meeting people like these right now is such a blessing… We'll be more careful from now on, Riles…. So that they don't regret opening their house for us." Riley nodded feeling uncomfortable. "I know you'll be careful but make sure you don't appear around too much and be careful with when you go out and come in."

Riley swallowed back her tears and nodded before looking away.

"I know, baby girl… Even if a person is living in a palace… he still misses his home." Topanga said as she rubbed her shoulders.

"Yeah… I feel like I'm in prison, mum. I really miss our house…"

"I promise you that we'll find a solution for this as soon as possible…. Just be patient… These days will pass and will only make us stronger just like everything we've been through made us as strong as we are now… Just be patient, Riles… What did your father always say?"

"All good things come after a little bit of patience." Riley said with a smile.

"He always said that and he was never wrong." They both hugged and Riley left after Topanga wished her good luck.

Lucas was walking his dog in the neighborhood when he saw a girl walking with an off the shoulder tank top and a pair of very short jean shorts walking her dog as well. He looked at her with a slight smirk as she held his gaze as she passed him. Their dogs tuned to each other and parked angrily at each other as both their owners continued walking. Rocky's leash slipped out of Lucas' hand and the dog started running on his own.

"Rocky?! Where are you going? Rocky, stop!" Lucas yelled after him before he ran after him.

Riley was walking in a slower pace because of her tiredness. "The gate of this compound is so far away." She mumbled to herself as she walked.

She then heard a dog barking so she looked behind her to find a dog running in full speed towards her so she started running as well. "No! Don't come! Don't come!" She exclaimed as she ran but because she kept looking behind her at the dog, she didn't notice that little rock in her way so she tripped and fell to the floor. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.

The dog reached her and sniffed her before sitting down beside her, as if he'd recognized her smell.

"ROCKY!" Lucas yelled as he finally caught up to him and noticed the girl that was sitting on the ground with her back to him and Rocky sitting calmly beside her. "Rocky!" Lucas said as he took hold of his leash again.

"Take that dog away from me." She turned to look at the owner and they both frowned in surprise.

"Riley!" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief. Out of all the places for them to meet, they meet in his compound?

Riley stood up from the ground and looked at him. "This must be a nightmare!" She exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?!" Lucas asked her in confusion.

"The question is, what are _you_ doing here?" Riley asked back then they both frowned in realization.

"You live here?!" They exclaimed at the same time.

"No." Riley stated.

"I don't live here either." Lucas said nervously. "I came here to visit a friend."

"Off! You caused me many problems in Miami and now your dog is after me as well." She said in frustration.

"It's not a dog… He has a name… It's Rocky." Lucas stated as he looked at the dog.

"Oh, pardon me, honey." She said sarcastically before looking at the dog and kneeling down beside him. "I'm sorry, I know I scared you as well." She told Rocky and Lucas took that opportunity to look at her. Something was different about her and he wanted to know what it is. He kept looking at her before realizing that it's her hair. It was straight which was a new look for him as she always had it curled in Miami. He didn't want to admit it but she looked really pretty with straight hair. "But when I saw you running after me, I ran as well to protect myself… Otherwise, I really like dogs." She ruffled his fur and he laid down on the ground like dogs do when they're sleeping.

"Will you tell me what you're doing here… that is if you're done with explaining it to the dog? You're starting to really scare me." She glared up at him before standing up and walking towards him slowly until she was about two steps away from him.

"First of all, it's not a dog. His name is Rocky." Lucas smirked at her words. "Second of all, what do you have to do with what I'm doing here?" His smirk was getting bigger with each word she said. "Third of all, If we take the fact that everything that has happened to me until now was because of you into consideration, then I'm the one that should be scared if someone must be scared."

"How talkative are you? You're a great example for the saying that women are responsible for all the talking…. Okay, consider that I never asked, I change my mind."

"You such an annoying douchebag… I hate you!" Riley exclaimed angrily.

"And I love you so much. Take good care of yourself until our next meeting, babe." Lucas told her with a smile, knowing that her 'I hate you' is just out of anger. He turned around with Rocky and walked away. She huffed as she continued walking towards the gate again.

What he didn't know was how those words he used to tease her and get on her nerves, had a very faint percentage of truth behind them.

* * *

 **Phew that took me many hours to finish. I was determined to post this today so it's now almost 7AM and I've been writing since 12AM.**

 **First things first, I'm sorry about any typos since I can't re-read it because of how tired I am.**

 **But AHHHH they met again! And Lucas said the L word lol. Not for real though.**

 **Did you guys watch GMTriangle? what did you think of it?**

 **I really liked it. I wish I had a friend that cared about me as much as Riley cares about Maya and vice versa. I feel like we already have the answer to who Lucas will choose but I keep getting confused with the spoilers I hear. They keep saying that in Ski lodge Lucas will get jealous when he sees Maya with Josh, then they say that he'll get jealous when Riley and Lauren's son spend time together. Then I heard yesterday that in the next episode, Maya will tell him who to choose and in Ski lodge he'll tell Maya his choice first which could mean that he just doesn't want to surprise her in front of everyone when he chooses Riley? But then... they say that when Maya tells him to tell Riley that he Loves her, he doesn't... why? I'm so damn confused.**

 **Do you guys think that Maya likes Lucas only because of her identity crisis?**

 **I don't think so, tbh. I mean... I think she is definitely mistaking her feelings for Lucas as romantic because of her identity crisis but I don't think that she started liking him just because of that. She definitely likes him but not as her boyfriend but as a very dear, close friend just like Farkle. A person could always mistake loving a friend with loving them in a more romantic way. At lease that's how I think it is for Lucaya.**

 **Also, what do you think about Lucas' words 'It was Maya who pushed her'?**

 **Honestly I think that yeah, Maya is the one who started it for both of them but the rest was all them. That conversation in the Library was them... their date on the subway was them, even if she'd pushed her into his lap again... I mean even If Maya hadn't pushed her that first time, Rucas would've still happened. He sat right behind her on the first day! They would've met anyways.**

 **On last question, do you want Riley to have her long hair (Same length as it was in GMTexas) or short as she has it now? I personally like her short hair only when she has it straightened so I'm voting for long hair for this story but what do you guys think?**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter since I love hearing your thoughts.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	17. Chapter 17: Mission accomplished!

Joseph had just finished talking with one of their engineers about a design for their new hotel that is currently being built when he got a call from an unknown number. "Hello?"

"Hey, Joseph." A lady said over the phone as she drove through the streets of LA, her destination was yet to be known.

"Who is this?" He said in confusion.

"I see you forgot my voice…. Well, it's only natural since a long time has passed." She paused before saying with a smirk, "I'm Jessica."

Joseph's expression turned from confusion to surprise to anger all in one second before he turned to the engineer, "Let's continue this later." The engineer nodded and left him alone. "What's wrong? What do you want? Why are you calling me?"

"What kind of question is that? Why do you think I want something? Couldn't it be that I'm calling to ask about your wellbeing?" She said innocently.

"Look, I don't have time for your games. Tell me the reason behind your call or I'll hang up." Joseph said sternly but it didn't faze her.

"Okay… We need to talk."

"I have nothing to talk to you about."

Jessica made a humming noise as if she's in deep thought as she twirled a hair around her finger while her other hand was on the wheel, "I wonder if I made a mistake by calling you first."

"Are you _threatening_ me?" Joseph asked in an angry disbelief. "I don't have any intentions in talking to you. Don't call me again." With that he hanged up and threw his phone on his desk angrily.

Jessica gave a sarcastic laugh, "Won't talk to me? You will talk to me, Joseph." She smirked as she looked at the road ahead.

Joseph sat down on his chair and decided to save her number in case she decided to call again.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Why did you take so long, pumpkin?" Maya asked in concern as she hugged Riley.

"Don't even ask, peaches… You won't believe what happened to me." Riley said with a frown.

"What happened?"

"I pumped into that idiot."

"What idiot?" Maya asked in confusion.

"How many idiots do I know, Maya?!" Riley exclaimed in frustration. "Lucas of course."

"What?! How? Where?"

"I left the house to come here and I was walking towards the gate of the compound the house is in when all of a sudden a dog appeared and started running after me. I tripped and fell to the ground out of panic…. And of course, who's the owner of the dog? You can probably guess it."

"No way!" Maya said in fake surprise. "Honestly, why would I be surprised, Riles? You guys' pumping into each other is nothing new…. You should be used to it by now as well."

"Yeah… It's like whenever I try to get rid of him, he appears in front of me just to annoy me."

"Well…. It's the things that we don't want to see that we end up seeing." Maya told her as a matter of fact and riley sighed in defeat. "Wait… Does that mean that he also lives there?"

"No… He said that he was just visiting a friend."

"Good… In my opinion, don't think about it too much and let it annoy you… when will you see him again anyways?"

"I just want him to stay away from me…. Come on let's go to our job interview, we're late enough."

"I talked to the waiters that work here and they said that the boss is really nice and the job conditions are perfect as well…. Hopefully, we'll get this job!" Maya said excitedly and Riley smiled.

"Are you serious? I hope so!" Riley said with hope filling her smile. They linked hands and went towards the café together.

"Okay, you can come back tomorrow and start working." A guy in his late thirties said to the two girls in front of him, who left just as Riley and Maya approached him.

"Hello, we came to apply for the jobs you have available." Maya said with a smile.

"Unfortunately, the two girls who just left took the job." The man said and upon seeing their sad faces he spoke again, "But you can still leave your numbers and we'll call you if we have a place for you."

"Okay, thank you." Riley said in defeat and took the paper and pen that he handed her. She sat down on one of the tables and wrote down her number along with Maya's. "We lost the job just because of those five wasted minutes…. It's all because of that idiot _again_ …. I caused a problem for you too… I'm so sorry, Maya."

"Don't be, Riles…. Besides, I'm not sad about it." Maya said with a smirk as she lowered her head to whisper to Riley. "Look around… There are no hot guys around here."

That made Riley crack a smile and shake her head, "C'mon let's go see somewhere else." She said before getting up and handing the boss the piece of paper and leaving out of the door with Maya.

"Let's go to our old work place at the bakery… We have money there and that bastard of a boss will never call us to pay us." Maya said as linked her arm through Riley's as they walked.

"I don't think I'll ever get it back though." Riley said with an exasperated sigh.

"Why not? It's money that you deserve to have… you worked your ass off for it."

"Yeah but he won't give it to me after what had happened that day… Didn't you see how mad he was?"

"It wasn't your fault… He'll give us the money even if I have to use force." Riley said with a smirk and cracked her knuckles earning a giggle out of Riley. "Don't worry, pumpkin." Riley nodded and the continued their walk since the place wasn't far, about ten minutes worth of walking and they'll be there.

* * *

"Here's your coffee, Mr. Minkus." His secretary said as she carefully put the cup of coffee on his desk.

He smiled at her gratefully, "Thank you." She nodded and left the room. Minkus took a sip of his coffee while he looked at some papers for today's meeting before a smile appeared on his face as he took his phone from its place on his desk and dialed a number.

Ella was also looking at some paperwork with her secretary when her phone rang. Her secretary excused herself as Ella went to answer her phone, a smile immediately appearing on her face when she saw the caller ID. "Hey, love."

"How are you, honey?" Minkus said as he leaned back in his chair. "What are you doing?"

"I'm okay, baby… I'm at the company catching up on work, what about you?" Ella sat down in her desk chair as she spoke.

"Well I, unfortunately, can't work because I'm too busy thinking about you." Minkus said smoothly making her giggle. "I miss you so much…. I wonder if I should just come to the UK."

She giggled once again, "We just parted last night, Minkus."

"It won't work that way though, Ella." Minkus said seriously. "You just need to move and settle down here in the US as soon as possible."

"Actually… I'm already considering it." Upon hearing her words, he sat up straight in his chair as a smile took place on his face.

"Really?!"

"Me and Kayli talked this morning… She's also pressuring and nagging me about it… Her friends and boyfriend are all living in the US… I mean, we can't move to the US for good in a short period of time but… I think it will be good if we at least have a house in the US."

"Well, I'll tell you now that we have a house here in the US anyways but… I know that you'll disagree and argue with me about it…."

"In my opinion, the fact the Cathy now knows about our relationship is a great development, don't you think?"

Minkus nodded with a smile as if she can see him, "Definitely."

Ella's office telephone started ringing, "Ah, love… I have a call coming in."

"Okay, baby… I love you."

"I love you too…. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." With that they both hanged up as Minkus' secretary made her way into the office after knocking, with a green file in her hand that he'd asked for. "Thank you… Um was it Mr. Allan who took care of the buying and selling of building for our company?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, thanks." She left and he took a sip from his almost cold coffee as he dialed another number on his phone. "Hey, Allan…. I have a favor to ask… Yeah… I need a house in a good place in LA that is away from the noisy streets but still easy to transport from and to… I want it as soon as possible… Yeah… Alright, I'll wait for your phone call then… Bye." He hanged up and gave a content sigh with a smile then went back to his work.

* * *

As they neared the bakery, Riley's nerves kicked in again and she stopped walking. Maya looked at her and gave her an encouraging smile then, literally, dragged her into the shop.

"Hello, Manager." Maya said as she crossed her arms across her chest. She was in the 'You better not mess with me' mode.

"Hello… What is it? Why are you here?" He said rudely.

"You still owe us some money for the few weeks that we worked here from the new month." Maya stated with a blank face. "You told us that you'll call us when it's time to pay salaries but a call was never received by us."

"Well you don't have a salary for us to call you for." He stated as a matter of fact.

Riley and Maya looked at each other with scowls on their faces and said at the same time, "How so?"

"I have at least twenty days worth of payment." Maya stated angrily.

"Me too."

"We won't move a foot from here until you give us the money that you owe us." Maya said, her voice raising a little but the manager didn't seem fazed.

"Fine by me."

"We'll file a complaint about you to the police station…. And if you think that it's an empty threat, trust me when I tell that if we step a foot out of this bakery, we'll head right to the police station… I don't think it will be a good reputation for this place if the police comes here of if the manager is called into the station, right?" Riley smirked slightly, happy with her friend's actions and words. That seemed to faze him as well.

"Wait here…. I have to talk to the boss first."

"Okay, we'll wait here." Maya said with a grin that looked creepy. You know when someone is really angry then they suddenly grin and it just looks as if they're mad/crazy?

The manager went to the office and Maya turned to Riley, "Did you notice how he took a step back when we raised our voices?" Riley nodded with a smirk. "That's how it's gonna be from now on. They're just using us…. You know pumpkin, I'm getting my anger towards all males from Josh… It's rather fun actually." Maya said with a giggle.

"I think you're right… Nothing good came from being sweet and kind until now."

"Of course, pumpkin… They walk all over you if you don't make a sound of argument."

"Yeah… we shouldn't give them the chance to walk all over us." Riley said and they both faced forward, towards the boss' office to wait to the manager to come out. Unbeknown to them, a black Toyota rav4 that parked in front of the bakery before a young man stepped out of it and went inside the bakery after locking his car.

"Hello." Farkle said to the worker as he went up to the cashier.

"Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?"

"Can I have a small strawberry cake, please?"

"Of course… I'll bring it right away." The girl said before disappearing to bring it to him. He looked around the bakery before stopping as he spotted the two girls that were standing together not far from him.

"Riley?" He said as he took a step towards her and she looked behind her when she heard her name before her eyes widened.

"Oh… Hello." She said, not sure how she's supposed to greet him.

Farkle looked at her for a moment, "Um… Did you start working here again?"

Riley looked at Maya before answering, "No… They owe us money for the time we worked here so we came to take it…"

"Aha… When I saw you here I thought…" He trailed off then looked at the ground as Riley kept staring at him with a hopeful/sad expression on her face. Maya kept looking back and forth between them. "Anyways, what did you do about work? Did you find any jobs?"

"Maya and I are looking for job right now… We haven't found one yet but we will soon, hopefully." Riley said with her usual smile that she has when she's hoping for something she's not sure about.

"Riley, if you'd allow me…. I'd like to help you and Maya... You lost your job at the hotel because of us… We're in debt to you." Farkle said and Riley looked at Maya how nodded discreetly so that Farkle doesn't notice, which he didn't, telling Riley to accept his help.

"No, you don't need to help me." Riley said.

"Actually, that would be very good." Maya jumped in, knowing that her friend will regret not taking his help. Riley's eyes widened as Maya continued speaking, "I mean… It's really hard to find jobs anywhere at this time of the year."

"You're right." Farkle said before looking back at Riley. "I'll solve this for you as soon as possible… I don't mind helping you at all."

"That would be very nice of you." Maya said with a smile while Riley glared at her.

Farkle took out his phone and after doing a few things on it he pushed his hand towards Riley, "Can I have your number then?"

Maya smirked and looked at her friend, hoping silently that she won't say no. "Yes, of course." Riley took his phone from his and wrote her number into his phone.

"You can go ahead and call yourself so that you have my number as well." Farkle wasn't sure if he was just doing this because he actually owed her for all the trouble that had happened to her because of them, or if it was just an excuse to have her number. What he did know was that she's a nice girl that he doesn't mind having in his life.

Riley nodded and took her phone out before calling herself. When it started ringing, she handed Farkle his phone back and saved his number on her phone.

"I'll call you as soon as possible." Farkle said with a smile.

"Okay… Thank you so much." She said quietly.

Farkle smiled at her, "Have a nice day, Goodbye."

"Goodbye!" Maya said with a smile and a wave and he left after taking his cake and paying for it.

When he left, Maya turned back around and did a little happy dance and pumped her fists into the air as Riley stared at her with a scowl. "What did you just do, Maya?"

"What did I do? I did nothing wrong… Didn't you lose your job because of them? Not just once but twice. Let him help you… Besides, you'll be killing two birds with one stone. Work and love at the same time."

"Don't even start with that, Maya! I became so little in Farkle's eyes now!" Riley said angrily.

"No you didn't… Listen to me-" Maya's words were interrupted by the sound of the office door opening so they looked towards it as the manager made his way out with envelopes in his hand.

"Okay… I talked to the boss…. What's remaining from your salaries is here." He held up the envelopes and both girls cracked a smile. "But I want you to sign this paper that proves that we don't owe you any money."

"Wait a minute… Something is wrong here." Maya said.

"God only knows whether you'll come back here three days later and claim that you didn't get your paycheck or not. You either sign these papers and take your paychecks or not sign them and leave without your paychecks."

Maya huffed and snatched the papers as well as the envelopes from him while Riley snatched the pen. Riley glared at him as she sign her paper before giving the pen to Maya to sign hers. She shoved hers towards him and a few seconds later, Maya did the same. Maya handed Riley her envelope and they both headed towards the door after glaring at the manager once again.

Before getting out of the door completely, Maya looked back at him. "There's one thing that I've been wanting to do since I started working for you." She said with a smirk before holding up both her middle fingers at him. "Ahhh! Feels so good to get that out of my system… Goodbye!" She said happily and got out of the bakery with a giggling Riley, leaving behind a stunned but fuming man.

"Maya… I wouldn't have taken a dollar from that place if it wasn't for you!" Riley said as she looked through her envelope when they were a good distance away from the bakery.

"Well I also managed the situation with Farkle and thanks to me, you got his number without even asking." Maya said proudly.

"You're right… and we talked about work as well." Riley put her envelope in her bag before taking the strap off from around her shoulders since it was a backpack. "Hey hold this for me for a second." Maya nodded and took the bag from her. Riley took off her blue plaid flannel shirt and tied it around her waist before taking the bag from Maya and putting it back on. She was thankful that she'd decided on wearing a halter crop top this morning since a tank top would've been too revealing for her liking. "Why is it so hot today? I'm so jealous that you're wearing shorts right now."

"I thought it would be hot… Anyways, I'm pretty sure that Farkle will find us a very good, suitable job."

"I know he will… He wouldn't have taken my phone number and promised to help us if he wasn't sure…. He's a very honest man." Riley said with a smile before she scowled. "Unlike his cousin." She spat.

"Yeah… I find it hard to believe that they're cousins."

"Lucas can't even be compared to a nail of Farkle's fingers…"

"Well, we got our paychecks, the jobs problem is on its way to being solved…. What are you gonna feed me, pumpkin?" Maya said with a grin and Riley grabbed her arm excitedly and linked hers through it.

"I'll get you whatever you want, baby." Riley said happily.

"Hello?" Minkus said as he answered his ringing office phone. "Allan? Yeah connect him to me." He told his secretary through the phone. "Yes, Allan? You found a house just like the one I want? That's nice… when can I see it then? Aha… Okay, I'm coming right away… Okay… Bye." Minkus smiled and stood up from his chair. He started closing the files he had opened in front of him.

"Dad, do you have a minute? I want to ask you something." Farkle said as he made his way into his dad's office.

"I'm going out right now… is it important?" Minkus said as he made his way towards his jacket hanger and took his blazer from it and put it on then went towards the door, where Farkle was standing.

"A… friend of mine needs a job." Farkle said as he watched his father. "I was going to ask you what we can do for her." When he saw how much his father was in a hurry, he quickly added, "But we can talk about that later if you're in a hurry."

"Can we really talk about it later?" Farkle nodded and they both went out the door.

"Hey, Minkus." Joseph greeted as he saw them while he was on his way to his office. "It's very nice to see you two as a father and his son at work." He then looked at Farkle with a proud smile. "Good job, Farkle."

"Thank you, uncle." Farkle said with a smile as well.

"Lucas is not here?" Minkus wondered.

"Lucas?!" Joseph said before he started laughing as if someone told him a really good joke. "You always like to crack jokes, Brother… You know Lucas. He did a lot of work in Miami… He relaxed under the sun in the fresh air and now he's relaxing at home with his dog." Both Farkle and Minkus joined Joseph in his fit of chuckles. "Are you heading out? Where?"

"I'll go to my office now." Farkle said and left the two brothers alone.

"I'm going to meet Mr. Allan… Ella is thinking about moving to the US so I'll take a look at some houses for her." He said after taking a step closer to his brother to ensure that no one else heard him.

"Why do you need to do that, Minkus? You two are grown up people… Let her move in and live with you… I mean, I don't know what you're waiting for."

"If it was for me, it would've happened already but Ella wants to take everything slow… She also has her reasons that are pretty logical as well."

"Well… Ella is a hard woman to deal with but she's kind…. I know that you two will be very good with each other." Joseph said and patted his younger brother on the back.

"So do I, brother." Minkus said with a smile. They said goodbye then both headed their own way.

Joseph made his way into his office and sat down in his chair before taking out of his phone. He stared at it for a few seconds before unlocking it and going to Jessica's contact. He stared at it with his finger on the call button, considering whether to call or not. He gave a huff of frustration before locking his phone again and putting it face down on his desk.

"I will definitely not call her."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"How are you going to ask your brother for Riley's number, Cait?" Sofia asked her from her place in the passenger seat as Caitlyn drove her mini cooper to the company with the roof of her car down.

"I won't ask him for it… I'll just steal it from his phone while you keep him busy." Caitlyn said with a smirk.

"How?!" Sofia whined.

"How what? I just told you." Caitlyn replied as she parked her car in front of the company.

"How am I going to keep your brother busy, Caitlyn?" Sofia asked in a whiny voice as they both took off their seatbelts.

"You'll find a way. C'mon." Caitlyn said as they both opened their doors and got out of the car just as Minkus made his way out of the company. "Oh, daddy!"

"Caitlyn..."

"Where are you off to?"

"I have a meeting… If you came here for me then I can go a little late." Minkus lied smoothly.

"No, daddy… we were just passing by and decided to stop by… My brother is here, right?"

"Yeah, he's here."

"Okay, daddy… Good luck on your meeting, Bye!" Caitlyn said as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheeks. She was only in a pair of white converse so she was a lot shorter than him.

Farkle was reading a file intently when Caitlyn knocked on his opened door. "We're here, brother!" She said happily as her and Sofia made their way inside.

"Hello!" He greeted with a smile.

"We were passing by the company so we thought why not come up and bother you for a bit." Caitlyn joked with a smile.

"You did good, Cait… Have a seat." They both sat down on the two chairs by his desk. Caitlyn pretended to be checking something on her phone but in reality, she was turning the power off.

"Ahh, my battery died down…" She said with a huff.

"Really? I think I have a charger here…" Farkle said and started looking at his cables. Caitlyn looked at Sofia in panic.

"No need… I have one in my car so I can charge it when we leave but… I need to call a friend of mine, can I have your phone?" she said and discreetly opened her phone again.

"Of course, baby girl." He said with a smile and handed her his phone. Caitlyn discreetly looked at Sofia and blinked her eyes as a nod.

"Awee…" Sofia said as she stood up from her chair, bringing Farkle's attention to her instead of Caitlyn. She made her way around his desk and towards the wall behind him making him turn his chair and give his back to Caitlyn. "Is that you?" She said as she pointed at a photo frame that was on the small table by the wall. It was a picture of two boys laying on the grass together while smiling at the camera.

"That's Lucas, I'm the one beside him."

"Really? You look so nice… I mean, Lucas looks nice too but you just have that special attraction, you know?" Sofia said. Caitlyn finally found Riley's number and hurriedly took her phone and took a picture of the screen, silently hoping that it will be clear enough.

Farkle chuckled, "Yeah, I was very attractive when I was younger and my eyes were a brighter shade of blue." She smiled at him and looked back at Caitlyn who nodded her head multiple times.

"Thank you, brother." Caitlyn said making him turn back towards her. He took his phone from her extended hand with a confused expression on his face.

"You didn't call you friend…" he said in confusion and Caitlyn panicked for a second before smiling.

"I changed my mind… I'll call her after I charge my phone since I can't remember her number well." Sofia was about to sit back down when Caitlyn stood up. "We'll leave now."

"But you haven't been here for long!" Farkle said once again confused.

"I have a few things to do that I just remembered." She said hurriedly.

"Yeah, we have things to do… Bye!" Sofia said and waved at him then headed out the door with Caitlyn, leaving a confused Farkle behind. "You got the number, right?" Sofia said when they were away from the office.

Caitlyn took out her phone and looked at the picture. "It's blurry but I can see the numbers well enough…. Mission accomplished!" She said excitedly and they both high fived.

* * *

 **Would you consider this chapter short? I don't know... I think it's in between... not too short but not too long either.**

 **I'm sorry for the delay but I was a little sick for the past few days and with Ramadan almost being over, we go out every single night after iftar (The time when we eat to break our fasting for the day) to buy Eid clothes and stuff and we get home at like 1AM and then we eat sohor (The last meal before it's time to fast) and by the time we're done it's already 3AM so I pray and then go to bed. Eid is expected to either be on the 5th or 6th of July so I think after Eid I'll more free time... Fingers crossed that I do lol.**

 **Who saw the spoilers for upstate? They're so cuteee! They were all over instagram, when I last checked. The proposal scene was just so cute! I can't wait until the episode is out to be honest... I mean, who isn't?**

 **Anyways, back to the chapter Haneen... Focus...**

 **That was a suspicious phone call that Joseph got huh? Who do you think is that Jessica? You should all guess because I'm kind expecting a certain answer... I don't think any of you will actually know who she is but from now on she'll be a big character in the story. A character that will not appear much but will have kind of big impacts when she does appear. She'll also cause major problems to a certain couple... soon.**

 **This was a Lucas-less chapter... I still don't know if Lucas will be in next chapter or not but I don't think we'll have a Rucas scene next chapter either. It all depends on how long/short next chapter is really.**

 **Did any of you hear Demi Lovato's new song, Body Say? I'm in looooooove with it to be honest. The cover photo is a bit too 'nude' for my liking but on the cover for the Arabian countries, she has a sports bra on. I don't know if it was photo shopped or not but I saw it on twitter.**

 **You all said that you like Riley's hair short but would rather have her with long hair for this story so that's what I'm gonna do. I'm keeping her hair long for a certain scene that we'll get to in a few chapters. Her hair is the same length as it was in GMTexas and Maya's hair is the same length it is now.**

 **Anyways... don't forget to leave me a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and who you think that Jessica is and why do you think she's that person?**

 **Feel free to ask me anything you want in the reviews if there is anything you'd like to know.**

 **Until next time... No wait!**

 **I'm listening to 'Brave, honest, beautiful - fifth harmony' right now and I just wanted to tell you all...**

 **YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, GIRL! Don't let anyone bring you down and don't let them take away your smile and your light. Always remember that you're amazing. YOU'VE GOT A SMILE WORTH FIGHTING FOR!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx.**


	18. Chapter 18: Get in the car

Back in Miami, Josh called Maya for what was probably the 50th time since she left. As usual, she didn't answer so he decided to do something else.

"Hello?"

A relieved smile made its way to Josh's face, "Hey, Riley! It's josh…. I know I'm bothering you but Maya is not answering my calls."

"I wonder why." Riley spat as she walked aimlessly in the street.

"Look… You have every right to be mad at me but you got it all wrong… Maya isn't trying to listen to me… At least you try to listen to my side of the story." Josh said in an almost begging tone.

"Alright, I'm listening… What is it that we misunderstood?"

Josh started explaining to her everything that had happened that day while she listened and commented whenever she had something to say.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Caitlyn and Sofia got into Caitlyn's car and before she started driving, she stuck her phone into the little phone thingy that holds your phone in the car and opened up Riley's contact that she'd just saved. "Let's try and make her take first… About their breakup, I mean."

"Yeah… You can't really ask about something like that directly anyways." Sofia answered as they both fastened their seatbelts. "We already know the reason but…"

"I hope that she also wants to make up with him."

"That will make our job easier if she's willing to make up with him." Sofia agreed and Caitlyn nodded as she started driving her car. She pressed the call button on her phone and put on speaker as she drove away from the company.

"Riley? Is that you?"

"Yes, this is Riley speaking." She said quite formally.

"I'm Caitlyn, Farkle's sister!" She said excitedly. Riley's steps slowed down as she heard the girl's name and her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"Hey Caitlyn, How are you?"

"I'm okay, Riley. What about you? We didn't get to talk or get to know each other… You left early."

"Yeah…"

"Riley, I want to ask you something if it's not private…"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you break up with my brother? That made me really upset." Caitlyn said in a whiny/sad voice.

"You said that you'll try to get her to talk but you went right in and asked her!" Sofia said in a whisper-yell and Caitlyn just shushed her.

"Um… I think it would be better if your brother answered you that."

"It's because of Miley, isn't it? I know of course but trust me, Farkle doesn't have anything to do with Miley."

"Um… Well… That's not the only reason."

"Anyways, maybe you can talk about it on your own and solve it…. I won't interfere more than that but… You guys' situation doesn't stop us from meeting, right? I like you a lot and I'd really like to see you again."

"Of course we can meet each other, Caitlyn."

"Alright then… What are you doing this evening?" Caitlyn asked while trying to hide her excitement.

"I don't have any plans for the evening until now."

"Great! Let's meet then… I know a really good restaurant in the outskirts of LA… Let's have dinner together, is that okay?"

"Yeah…" Riley said with a smile.

"I can take you there if you want."

"No, no need for that… Just send me the address and I'll be able to get there by myself."

"As you like… I'll text you the address."

"Okay… Bye."

"Bye." Caitlyn said with a grin as she hanged up. "MISSION REALLY ACCOMPLISHED! I'll prepare a fancy, romantic dinner for them… I'll make the atmosphere so romantic that they fall in love with each other all over again." Caitlyn said excitedly.

"You're such a genius!" Sofia said with an excited smile on her face as well.

* * *

"We'll make a tasty salad when the food is done then our work is done until dinner time." Topanga said with a smile as her and Katy cut up some peppers and tomatoes.

"Yeah… I didn't think that we'll be able to finish all these different types of food but we probably will."

"Elona is getting the table outside ready, isn't she?"

"Yeah… I made her prepare the table in the backyard as a change…. Shawn is not back from the market either…. Let me call him to see where he is." Katy wiped her hands on her apron and took the house/kitchen phone from the kitchen isle. "Shawn, why are you late? Are you on your way back yet?"

"I'll get to the house soon, don't worry." Shawn answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Did you get everything that was on the list?"

"Yes."

"Okay… Hurry up a little, we're waiting for you." Katy said into the phone and hanged up. "He's coming." Topanga nodded.

In another part of the house, one young man was playing on his billiards table clad in a white V-neck, a light washed denim button up that he left unbuttoned, a pair of maroon jeans and white vans. He soon got bored from his game so he sat on the edge of the table and took his phone out with a bored sigh.

"Cousin! How are you? What are you doing?" Lucas asked once Farkle picked up the phone.

"Fine… I'm leaving the company right now, what about you?" Farkle said as he made his way out of his office and towards the elevator.

"I'm home… I'm really bored." Lucas said with a sigh then got up and paced around his very spacious room having nothing else to do, "I got used to Miami's atmosphere so of course I'm really bored here… Come over."

"I'm really tired, dude."

"Come over nonetheless… Don't find excuses."

"What excuses are you talking about? I don't spend half my day sleeping or chilling in my room like you. I work, Luke… add to that the fact that I'm jet lagged… Of course I'm tired, Lucas."

"Offff, cousin… Come over and let's play a game… Bring Ian along with you." Lucas said as he took a seat on his L-shaped couch.

"I can't say no to that… I'll meet you at the house then." They both hanged up after that.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Riley was walking back towards the house when a car slowed to a stop beside her. "Riley…"

"Ahh, Uncle Shawn." She said with a grin. She'd met him earlier and wasn't sure what to call him so he suggested calling him Uncle Shawn as it is what many of the youngsters call him.

"Hop in, you don't need to walk to the house." He said with a warm smile.

"Okay…" She answered with a nod and got into the passenger's seat and fastened her seatbelt.

"How are you, Riley?" He asked after he started driving again.

"I'm good, Uncle Shawn. What about you?"

"I'm good too… I had to go to the market to but some stuff for the kitchen so I went and picked them up."

"And I went to a job interview." Riley said quietly with a sad expression on her face.

"Really? How did it go then?"

"I don't think it went very well." She said with a shake of her head.

"Oh… Hey, Riley…" She looked up at him, "I can talk to Mr. Joseph if you're looking for a job. Maybe there're empty places at one of their companies or hotels."

"No need… I mean from the very first day and we ask them for a place to stay then a job? I don't think it'll be appropriate."

"Why wouldn't it be? You'll love them more as you get to know them…. They're really understanding and they get people's hard times."

"A… Friend of mine promised to help me find a job and I'm waiting for his call but I will tell you if he doesn't find one for me, Uncle Shawn." Shawn nodded with a smile then her phone binged so she took it out of her bag to find a text from Caitlyn. "Um… Do you know this address, Uncle Shawn?" She asked as she showed him the text.

He looked at it for a few moments, "Yeah I know it…. It's in the outskirts of LA but you can't get there without a car, Riley. No buses go there and almost any taxis agree to drive you there."

"Really?"

"Yeah… Were you planning on going there?"

"I was going to meet a friend of mine but it looks like I'll cancel it if it's really the way you're saying."

"No, wait don't cancel it… I pass by it sometimes at night so if you don't mind I can drive you there."

"Really? That would be great, Uncle Shawn." Riley said with a happy smile. "That is if my mum allows me… I still didn't get her permission."

"Okay, then get her permission and if you do then I can drive you there."

"Alright, Uncle Shawn… Thank you so much."

"No problem." He said with a smile as he drove the car threw the opened gate of the house and into the outside garage, right beside Lucas' car.

"Let me help you." Riley said as she made her way towards the trunk and helping him with the bags, not noticing Lucas' car at all.

"When you drink milk at this hour of the day, it burns fats quicker, right Topanga?" Cathy asked after gulping a glass of fresh milk down. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, that's why it's advisable to drink or eat milk as a meal halfway through the day." Right then, Riley made her way into the kitchen with Shawn behind her. She stopped for a second when she saw Cathy.

"You can put the bags there by the fridge." Katy said as she pointed at the place she meant and Riley and Shawn did as told.

"Is that your daughter, Topanga?" Cathy asked with a smile.

"Yeah, this is my daughter, Riley." Topanga answered with a smile of her own as she wrapped an arm around Riley's waste after she stood beside her.

"How pretty! It's a pleasure to meet you, Riley." Cathy said with a warm smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ma'am." Riley said with a polite smile.

"No need to call me 'Ma'am' you can just call me Mrs. Cathy like Katy's daughter does." Riley nodded. "Do you go to college?"

"No."

"Um… Last year she got a really high mark in the art department entries exam but unfortunately she couldn't go to college…. But she'll definitely do this year." Topanga stepped in, knowing that this was one of the sensitive subjects for her daughter.

"That means that you're talented then." Cathy said with the same smile on her face and Riley could sense that the woman was indeed very nice. "That's really amazing! Do you that I really love drawing? This was even my biggest dream when I was your age… to become an artist… I always dreamt of opening my own atelier or something…" Cathy said with excitement in her voice and Riley had a big dreamy grin on her face. Cathy sighed before she spoke again, "But my dad opposed. He was like 'What will happen if you became an artist?' so that why I studied public relations…"

"You're still young, though… You can probably start drawing again and achieve your dream. I mean… It's never too late to go after your dreams." Riley said with a small smile.

Cathy looked at Topanga, who had a proud smile on her face, then back at Riley and grinned. "I don't know… Is that possible? There isn't an artist here at our house so the desire kind of dies down with time…. My son for example, he's nothing like me when it comes to this subject. He's talentless." She lowered her voice to a load whisper for her next words, "Just like his father."

Riley and Topanga giggled and she joined them as well. "Honey, I hope that it goes well for you." Riley gave her a thankful smile.

"Mrs. Cathy…. Once again, thank you so much for what you've done for us." Topanga said gratefully.

"You're welcome, Topanga." Cathy said with a genuine smile. "I'll leave you to your work then."

Riley followed her with her eyes as she made her way out of the kitchen before turning to her mother, "She's so nice!"

"Yeah, she is." Topanga agreed and went back to cutting up some lettuce.

Riley took a deep breath, "Mum, I was going to ask for your permission to go out with a friend tonight so can I?"

"What kind of friend is that?"

"She's a friend of mine… We'll just have dinner together." Riley explained. "Uncle Shawn said that he'll drive me there and Caitlyn will drive me back anyways…. That's okay, right?"

"Caitlyn? Do I know her? I don't recall ever hearing that name before." Topanga asked as her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"I met her in Miami… She's the daughter of the hotel's owner that I worked for."

"The daughter of the hotel's owner? Riley… the children of rich people running into you seems a little strange for me…"

"No, Caitlyn isn't like that at all… She's not spoiled like the children of the rich people usually are. She's actually pretty humble and down to earth."

"That means that they raised her well." Topanga said with a smile. "Why did they fire you then? Couldn't you friend say anything to stop them from firing you when you did nothing wrong?"

"No… The problems that I went through weren't with her brother but with their cousin." Riley said in a somewhat angry tone. "He's the one who made me mad."

"Oh, now I'm confused, Riles."

"Mummy…" Riley said with a smile and kissed her mother's cheek. "Don't get that pretty mind of yours confused…. You're giving me permission to go, aren't you?"

"Lately, you asking for permissions is pretty frequent, Riley." Topanga pointed out and Riley frowned. "Or are you meeting someone and not telling me?"

"Of course not! Would I lie to you about something like that, Mum? As if you don't know me." Riley said with a scowl and looked away from her mother, pretending to be upset. "Fine… If you don't feel comfortable about it or if you don't trust what I'm telling you then I won't go."

"Fine… You can go, I give you my permission." Riley turned to her mother with a grin and Topanga smiled back. "But Caitlyn will drive you and drop you off right by the door, right?"

"Yes, she will. Don't worry."

"Don't you dare stay out late, okay?"

"Okay, Mum." Riley said and gave her another kiss. Topanga ran towards the food as she remembered it was still on the lit stove and Riley excused herself.

As she made her way out of the kitchen door that lead outside the house, she noticed the house's front door open and a man inside walking towards the living room.

"He looks just like Farkle!" She exclaimed to herself as she noticed that he had the same clothes that Farkle was wearing earlier but she couldn't see his face because the servant closed the door. "I definitely started hallucinating and seeing stuff!" She said with a shake of her head and walked towards the penthouse and went inside after opening the door.

She decided to take a shower to wash off all the sweat then when she was done, she started on her makeup since she was meeting Caitlyn at seven in the evening and it was five thirty right now. She needed to leave by six since the restaurant is an hour away.

* * *

"Hey there, dudes." Lucas greeted Ian and Farkle when they walked into his room. They did their 'men-handshake' thing. "How are you?"

"Pretty tired, man. We didn't spend the entire day at home like you did." Ian said with a smirk while Lucas chuckled as they sat down on his couch. "We worked."

"Don't start with this like Farkle did." Lucas said with a chuckle then turned serious. "It's good that you're working… Staying at home is even more tiring, man…. I spent the entire day so far in complete boredom… Anyways, let's play." Lucas sat at the horizontal part of his L-shaped couch and laid his legs out as he opened his TV for their game of PlayStation. The two men took the two controllers that he'd laid on the table.

"Get ready to lose, Luke." Farkle said with a smirk.

"We'll see who will end up losing." Lucas replied back.

"Do you need anything, Mr. Lucas?" Elona asked after she made her way into his room.

"Are you guys hungry?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not hungry but I can have something sweet… Ice cream or cake or something like that." Ian said to Elona and she nodded.

"Me too." Farkle said and she gave another nod.

"Then we will all have something sweet." Lucas said.

"Okay, Mr. Lucas." Elona said and left.

"I also want something sweet to eat… I need the energy." Lucas said.

"You can eat ten kilos of sweets. It won't be enough to beat me." Farkle said with a smirk.

"We'll see." With that, Lucas and Farkle started their game as Ian watched.

* * *

"Girl, Josh's voice was so sad and quiet… unlike his usual voice at all." Riley told Maya as she sat on the dressing table's chair and applied her blusher. She wore a simple navy blue dress that had medium sized coral-pinkish flowers that had mint blue leaves scattered in random places. It had quarter length sleeves and a V-neck that wasn't very deep to show her cleavage. Caitlyn told her to wear something casual so that's what she did. She kept her hair straight and her makeup quite simple with a simple winged eyeliner and a bronzed face along with pink lips. "What if the guy is saying the truth? What if that girl was really his ex-girlfriend?"

"Offf, Riley… Don't mess with my head. What we had is done for me." Maya said as she walked along the streets.

"I'm the one who's messing with your head?" Riley exclaimed. "I'm telling you that his voice sounded pretty bad, for real, Maya. I'm not kidding…. He almost cried as well! He's coming to LA…. He told me that he just wants you to talk to him for five minutes and that's all he wants from you."

"Is he really coming to LA for me?" Maya asked in disbelief. "I wonder if he's telling the truth… Maybe he is since he's coming all the way here."

"That's what I'm saying, too…. I think the guy is really telling the truth."

"What did you say when he told you that he's coming to LA?"

"Don't get mad at me but…" Riley trailed off nervously and Maya knew that she had a nervous smile on her face as she spoke. "I gave him your address…. He's coming to see you tonight."

"WHAT?" Maya exclaimed, stopping in her tracks and attracting the attention of people who passed by her. "Coming to see me tonight? We have a half hour until it's officially night, Riley! When will I get ready?!"

"Maya… I swear you're not normal." Riley said in confusion. "Just a minute ago you were saying that everything is over between you two and now you're saying when will you get ready?"

"Pumpkin, I need to get ready to show him what he's missing and what he lost."

"You're really strange, Peaches." Riley said with a giggle and got up, having finished her makeup already. "Anyways, I have to go now… I'm meeting Caitlyn."

"You're meeting Caitlyn? Girl, we were together two hours ago and already that much happened? Hurry and tell me everything that happened."

Riley told her everything and then they talked for another few minutes before hanging up. Riley put on a pair of navy blue heels that had light pink ankle straps that almost matched the color of the flowers to dress up the casual dress a bit and a navy blue bag as well. The dress went down a little further than mid-thighs so that's why she bothered with heels. For accessories she went with a simple gold necklace that she rarely took off since it had the letters 'RM' on it to symbolize her name, a few rings and simple gold earrings.

"Topanga, Mr. Lucas and his guests want something sweet to eat... Do you have anything?" Elona said as she made her way into the kitchen.

"There's a strawberry cake that Riley made in the fridge along with Ice cream… would that be fine?" Topanga answered.

"Yeah… I'll get the plates." Topanga nodded and stood up from the chair she was sitting on and took the cake and ice-cream out of the fridge.

"Mum, I'm leaving." Riley said as she stepped inside the kitchen.

"Okay, don't stay out late and make me worry, alright?"

"Okay, don't worry… My phone is with me anyways and I'll make sure that I keep it on."

"Okay." Topanga said with a smile.

"Riley, are you ready?" Shawn said as he came into the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"Yeah." Riley said with a nod and her signature smile.

"It's gonna be bothersome for you, Shawn." Topanga said.

"That's not possible, Topanga… It's okay… Come on let's go." He said with a smile and Riley nodded and waved to her mother before leaving with Shawn.

As they made their way towards the car, Joseph was making his way towards the house.

"Hello, sir." Shawn greeted.

"Hello, Shawn." Joseph greeted back then looked at the girl that stood beside Shawn. He kept staring at her and she kept staring back not knowing what to do.

"Oh, that's Topanga's daughter, Riley." Shawn introduced. "Riley, this is Mr. Friar, our boss."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Riley greeted politely.

"Same here, sweetie." Joseph said shortly then walked past them towards the house. "Hey, honey." Joseph said as he made his way into the living room where Cathy was reading a magazine.

"Welcome back, baby." She said and closed her magazine as he sat beside her on the couch. "How was your day?"

He gave a sigh before answering her, "Like it always is, quite tiring." Cathy nodded sympathetically. "Did someone new start working here?"

"Oh… No, she doesn't work for us. She's Topanga's daughter…" Joseph nodded. "Originally, she was living outside LA but she had to come back so Topanga asked me if her daughter could stay here with her at the penthouse…. I couldn't refuse her request, honestly…. I didn't ask you first but-"

"No, what's the need to ask me? I have no problem with it…. She looks like a polite, nice girl."

"Isn't she? She's so nice and seems ladylike… That's my opinion too." Cathy said with a smile.

"Is she a student? She looks young."

"No… They didn't say so but it seems like the girl couldn't go to college because of their financial situation…. She actually got in and passed the entries exam with a high mark but she couldn't go… If it wasn't for financial problems, why would a person who got a high mark and got accepted like her not go?"

"That's too bad… But the girl did well."

Cathy nodded to his words. "Why don't you go change into something more casual? I told them to prepare the table in the backyard to have dinner on." Joseph smiled at her and nodded before getting up and doing as told.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Are we there yet?!" Sofia said with a huff.

"Almost." Caitlyn answered as she kept driving.

"Couldn't you find somewhere that is even more far away, Cait? What the hell is this? You've been driving for forty minutes!" Sofia complained more.

"We choose the place to be far on purpose, Sof." Caitlyn reminded her. "So that my brother agrees to come since it's far away and so that they don't go back home right away after seeing each other and have a good time even while he's driving her back… I thought about everything, girl."

"People should really fear you, Cait." Sofia said with a giggle. "That plan wouldn't have ever come to my mind… if only you use your brain for your own good."

"You're right… If only I'd used my brain even one bit for myself, then I'd be married to Ian in no time if not by now." Caitlyn said seriously making Sofia laugh.

"No doubt."

* * *

Ella was gathering her stuff to leave the office when she got a video message from Minkus. She sat down to watch it. "Babe… I have a little surprise for you." He said then took the phone away from a bit to show more of what's around him. "If you liked it then this is your new house." He motioned to the beautifully decorated house behind him. "Actually, I wanted to hold your hand and show you around but unfortunately that's not possible since you're all the way in the UK. So I decided to film this video instead…. This is the living room." He turned his phone to the back camera and showed her the living room. "Of course you could change the furniture if you don't like it but I think it matches your taste really well."

"Absolutely." She said with a smile as if he can hear her.

"I could see you saying 'absolutely' right now." He said with a smile and she giggled. "I wanted the house to have a fireplace specifically. I know how much you find peace when you sit in front of the fireplace." He showed the fireplace that was on the other side of the living room with another couch set in front of it and a clear glass coffee table. "Unfortunately, we're gonna have to wait till winter for that but that doesn't matter… We have a beautiful backyard with a pool to keep us cool for summertime since I know you don't get a lot of that in the UK…. I will talk to the architect later to put a few tall trees around that pool… Who will see us you say, right?" Ella laughed at his words. "I get jealous even when my own eyes look at you, Ella." The Camera was now back to front camera so she was able to see him with the backyard in the background.

She dialed his number, "I loved it!" She said right when he answered his phone making him chuckle.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah… The house is really pretty but I didn't mean the house when I said that I loved it." She said softly. "The value you gave me and the way you showed me it… Simply, the meaning that you added to my life… I love that way you love me and the way you express that love… You make me feel special, worthy, valued and appreciated. I love all of that… You really couldn't have made me happier with what you do." She said with tears in her eyes.

"You also make me really happy, Ella." Minkus answered with a soft smile.

She gave a small giggle before clearing her throat. "Okay then, I'll continue watching the video." He chuckled and they both hanged up. She was about to open the video once again when Kayli made her way into her office dresses in a red romper and nude heels. "Hey, baby girl."

"Hey, mom…. I was in the area so I decided to stop by." Kayli said with a smile as she gave her mother a hug.

"You did well… I also finished my work for today. We can leave immediately if you want."

"Why not?" Kayli said with a nod. Ella turned around to her desk to get her bag but then turned back to Kayli.

"Let's eat at any restaurant, what do you think?" She asked with a smile, feeling like she's in a very good mood that Kayli also sensed.

"Great." Kayli agreed with her mother with a grin.

"I feel like having fish, what about you?" Ella said after she'd got her bag.

"Great idea." Kayli agreed and they both linked arms and left the office.

* * *

"Ah, we arrived! It's right there." Caitlyn said as she pointed at the little building that was surrounded by trees. She turned left through the gate of the restaurant and parked her car before getting out.

They went inside and started talking to the manager about what they wanted for the atmosphere and what food was to be served and such things.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Farkle took another bite of the slice of strawberry cake on his plate. "I'm confident that they bought this cake from the bakery that is near the company."

"I don't know… That's possible." Lucas said.

"I know the way it tastes." Farkle said back as he looked at the TV screen.

"It's really delicious either ways." Ian commented not taking his focus off of the screen as he continued his game with Farkle.

"Stop talking and finish the game." Lucas said.

"What will happen if we finish it?" Farkle said with a smirk. "You'll take five goals and then lose and wait for your turn all over again."

"I think I can make them ten this time…" Ian said with a smirk as well.

"Don't be so proud of yourselves… A person can't be perfect in all aspects. Let that be what I have missing." Lucas reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah sure." Ian said.

Right then, Farkle's phone started ringing and he looked at the screen briefly. "Answer the phone please, Lucas."

Lucas looked at the ringing phone and picked it up from the table. "Hey, Cait."

"Lucas, is that you? Is my brother available?"

"He is, honey. What's wrong?"

"It's really important, can you hand him the phone please?" Caitlyn said, her voice confirming that something is urgent.

"It's really important." Lucas said as he extended his arm towards Farkle. Farkle looked from the phone to the controller in his hand back and forth.

"What's wrong, Caitlyn?"

"I ran out of fuel and I'm stuck here, brother." Caitlyn whined.

"Where are you?" Farkle asked in worry.

"At that restaurant that we came to before… The one that is off the main road at the outskirts of town."

"How did you run out of fuel, Cait? Why didn't you make sure that you have a full tank before going that far?" He scolded through the phone. "Isn't there anyone around you who can help you?"

"I'm already worried and scared enough, brother. Will you just come and pick me up?"

"Okay, baby…. Okay, I'm coming." Farkle said softly, feeling bad for scolding her.

Caitlyn hanged up and grinned excitedly. "He's coming!"

"I can't believe you… You're amazing, Cait! Even I believed you… You should be an actress." Sofia commented.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Caitlyn said and flipped her straight hair playfully.

"That was just the right time, wasn't it?" Farkle mumbled to himself as he stood up tiredly. Lucas looked up at him and felt a little bad for him since he's been working all day and now he'd have to drive for an hour to get there and another hour to get back.

"Alright, sit back down… I'll go pick her up." Lucas said and stood up. He thought he'd be killing two birds with one stone. He'll be helping Farkle and he'll be leaving the house for two hours without having to hear any scolding from his father.

"He finally realized that he won't be getting his turn to play again." Ian said.

"Of course." Lucas said with a grin.

"Take my car… I parked it behind yours so you won't be able to get yours out until we leave." Farkle said as he handed him his car keys.

"Alright." Lucas said and then waved at them as he made his way around the couch to go to the door.

"Thank you." Farkle said before sitting back down. "Get ready to lose." He told Ian as he picked the controller back up.

"Let's start then and we'll see." Ian said back. Lucas made his way out of the house after explaining to his mum where he was going and drove out of the gate.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Kayli…" Ella started after they'd ordered their food. "There something really important that I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Kayli said after swallowing the bite she'd eaten from the complementary salad they gave them. Ella kept looking at her nervously. "Is it about Lucas again? Did you do something, mom?"

"No, calm down! It's not about Lucas but about me." Ella said. "But it does concern you as well."

"Okay… what is it?"

"Honey… Someone has been in my life for a while now." Ella said with a very small smile and Kayli put down the glass of water she had in her hand.

"What?!" Kayli exclaimed in disbelief making Ella even more nervous. "Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I… I didn't want to tell you until I was sure about him… But I am sure now and… Our relationship took a serious turn…" She looked at Kayli to see her reaction but she just had a blank face. "Look… Your permission is really, really important to me… I mean… You know that I'm experiencing this for the first time after your father and… I'm really… Happy." She finished with a small hopeful smile.

Kayli looked down at her lap before looking back at her mother. "I'm really happy for you." She said, although her face didn't say so. "But I wish you'd told me about his earlier…. So… Who did you guys meet? What's his name? What does he do?"

"Um… Actually, you know him." Ella said and Kayli's eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"I know him?"

"Yes."

"Mom… Who is he? Hurry and tell me."

"Minkus. Minkus Anthony Friar."

"Who?! Uncle Minkus?!" Kayli exclaimed in disbelief. Since she grew up with them, she called him uncle without a problem. "H…how did that happen, mom?"

"I also don't understand how it all happened…" Ella answered with a soft smile. "You know that I've known Minkus for a really long time but we never got this close before but… when we started having work together, we had the opportunity to get to know each other better."

"I'm really surprised…" Kayli trailed off as she played with the strap of bag. "Does Aunt Cathy know?"

"Yeah, I told her at the hotel's opening ceremony…. I'm pretty sure that Joseph also knows but… No one else knows."

Kayli looked out the clear glass of the restaurant that overlooked the beach before looking back at her mother with a big smile on her face. "I'm really happy for you, mom…. Uncle Minkus is a really nice and kind gentleman. I know that he'll treat my momma right."

Ella laughed at her daughter's words, "I'm really glad that you think about it that way… Oh I feel so much lighter!" Ella said with a big happy sigh followed by a smile.

"When you said that your relationship took a serious turn… Did you mean that he proposed to you?" Kayli asked curiously.

"Well… we haven't talked about that yet. We wanted our children to know first… What you thought about it is what really matters to us… But the fact that you, Caitlyn and Farkle are all friends and get along well is a bonus for us. We don't want there to be any problems between you three when we get married in the future."

"You're right… I don't think there will be a problem with Farkle…. He's really understanding and mature but… Caitlyn… She's just like a kid… She grew up pretty spoiled."

"But you have to get along and associate with her as well." Ella said with a scowl. "She grew up with seeing her mother or even knowing her…. That must've be really hard."

"That's right… But what's important now is you getting along with each other first… I really hope everything goes the way you wish for it to go, mom." They both grinned then their food arrived so they enjoyed their food with smiles on their faces.

* * *

Caitlyn was standing inside the restaurant observing the waiters as they moved the tables around to make a clearing for a single table right in the middle of the restaurant. They removed the circular glass of the table and put on a wooden piece instead like she asked for and decorated the table according to her instructions.

"Everything looks so perfect… Thank you so much for your efforts." She said with a big, excited smile. "Um, don't forget… They'll give you my name for reservation… My name is Caitlyn… Caitlyn Minkus… okay?"

"Okay, Miss Caitlyn. Don't worry, everything will go as planned." The manager reassured her with a smile.

"Thank you so much." She said with a grateful smile. He nodded and left them alone as she looked at the beautifully decorated table in front of them.

"That present is such a golden strike as well!" Sofia said excitedly.

"Isn't it?" Caitlyn said as she retrieved a gift bag from the table she'd left it on. "Hopefully, someone will do this for us one day, too…. Ian for me and for you…" She trailed of not knowing who to say. "Actually… You haven't had a crush on someone in while."

"What difference is it gonna make if I like someone? Just let happen suddenly…. One sided love is really hard."

"You won't like anyone even if you really want to like him as long as you see the state I'm in, anyways."

"Probably… Anyways, everything looks perfect."

"Yeah. We did a good job, too… Let me give them this and then we can leave the restaurant." She said holding up the gift bag then going over to the manager and handing it him. He already knew what he was supposed to do with it so he just nodded and took it from her.

They left the restaurant and made their way to Caitlyn's car. "Let's park the car there so that they don't see us… We have to make sure that they both meet."

"Of course… I'm so excited…. I hope the plan works." Sofia said before getting into the passenger seat as Caitlyn did the same.

"Well, prepare yourself a plan B if this one doesn't work." Caitlyn said and started driving her car to a more hidden place near the entrance where they could see any car that comes in from.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

It was almost seven in the evening and Maya was in her room fixing her hair in front of the mirror. She'd already did her makeup and kept it quite simple with nude pink lips and rosy cheeks. She ran a black eyeliner pencil into her waterline and lash line, smoked some brown eyeshadow under the outer corner of her eyes and that's all she did for her eyes. She had a teal dress on that went a few inches above her knees. It had buttons from the waist to the neckline as well as a lace detailing from the chest to the neckline and quarter length sleeves. She wrapped a dark brown belt around her waist and paired the dress with dark tan/brown strappy heels that match the color of her belt. She kept her hair straight and after fixing her side parting, she was done. **(AN: Her dress from GMSemi-formal)**

"Just like that… I think I look really pretty." She spoke to her reflection then her eyebrows frowned. "Why didn't he call me?" She wondered aloud as she picked her phone up from her bed that was covered in clothes.

"Is the place we're going to so far? We've been driving for almost an hour now." Josh asked nervously from his place in the taxi's passenger seat.

"It's LA, man." The young taxi driver answered. "It's not easy to go from a place to another but there isn't much left… We're almost at the place you gave me."

"Hopefully, everything will go well." Josh said, mostly to himself as he laid the bouquet of flowers more neatly in his arm before taking his phone out and dialing a number.

Maya was in the kitchen when she heard her phone ringing so she hurried towards her room. "Finally!" She said to herself. "Yes?" She said in a bored tone.

"AH MAYA!" Josh exclaimed loudly and nudged the driver in excitement. "Ah Maya, I'm so happy! You made me so happy by answering the phone! For real!" Josh said in a quite loud voice making the drive glare at him.

"Then that much happiness is enough for you, I'm hanging up." Maya said in a bored tone again.

"NO! Stop! Don't hang up! Please!" Josh said hurriedly.

"What do you want?"

"I'm in Los Angeles." He said proudly.

"Good for you, what am I supposed to do?" She said.

Josh's smile turned blank upon hearing her tone and words, "Let me see you for five minutes at least, Maya."

"Never."

"Please! I'm begging you!" He pleaded.

"Fine." She said in the same bored tone but she was actually grinning like crazy.

"Fine?! She said fine! Fine!" Josh exclaimed and nudged the driver again. "I took your address from Riley and I'm almost there anyways. I'll call you again when I get there."

Maya was about to answer when she heard their front door opening. "Maya?" her brother yelled from the hallway. She hurriedly hanged up and threw her phone on the bed.

"Why did you have to come early? Offff, brother! You always come at the wrong time." She whispered to herself.

"Maya?" He called again so she made her way out of her room.

"Yes, brother? Welcome back!" She said with a fake smile. "You came early."

"I'll just change my clothes and leave again." He said then made his way to his room.

Maya released a breath she didn't know that she was holding, "I was so afraid that he might stay at the house." She whispered to herself. Her phone started ringing again so she went to her room and closed the door behind herself. "Are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here… Should I come to the house?"

"Yeah, come to the house since it looks like you have a death wish anyways… I live with my brother!"

"Um… where should I wait for you then?"

"There's a café at the end of the street, wait there." She said before hanging up right when her brother opened the door.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Um…. Riley! She said she wants to meet me at the café near our house so I'm going out to meet her." Maya said with a nervous smile.

"Okay but don't stay out late… My shift is a night shift today so I'll be back by six in the morning so make sure you lock the door before you go to bed." Her brother said and she nodded. Her brother works as a murse (male nurse) at a hospital so he barely comes home. "Alright then, let's leave together."

"Okay, brother." She said and took her brown bag from her bed and slipped her phone inside before switching the lights of and closing her bedroom door. She put on her heels by the door since they don't wear shoes inside the house and her brother did the same. "Take care of yourself!" She said with a wave to her brother and they both went opposite ways.

Maya made her way into the Café where she found Josh already waiting with a bouquet of red roses with him. Once he saw her, he stood up and grabbed the flowers as she seemed to be walking in slow motion. She just looked really pretty so that why everything seemed to be going in slow motion around him when it wasn't.

Maya stood in front of him with a blank expression on her face as she kept looking at him then flicking her eyes away from him. "I bought you flowers, Maya…. You know, I never liked flowers until I met you… So I thought you'll like them too."

Maya looked at the flowers not wanting to be rude and not accept them. "There was no need." She said but took them from him anyways. "Anyways, say what you came here to say… I don't have much time." She said sternly.

"Um… shall we sit down then?" Josh said nervously. Maya silently sat down and he followed suit. "Look, Maya… That girl is a girl from my hometown that my mother forced me into being engaged to her…. I told her that our relationship is over a long time ago but she came to Miami anyways, what was I supposed to do? I talked to her because I didn't want to be rude and told her once again that everything between us is over…. I love you… you're the only girl in my life and you're the only one I want… I swear."

"That's not important anymore… We're over." Maya said without looking at him.

"How? Maya… I adore you." He said with a sad tone and Maya tried not to give in. "It's impossible for me to let you go."

"I don't know josh…. Lying got into the picture for us and besides… You're in Miami and I'm in LA… I don't look at long distance relationships with a warm heart."

"I quit my job and everything and came here…. I'll be in LA from now on." Maya looked at him in surprise. "I'll stay with my relatives for some time and I'll find a job as well…. Maya… Please give another chance… Just one chance and if I screw things up then you can do whatever you want with me…. Please give me another chance and I'll make you the happiest girl on earth."

"How…. Are you really going to live in LA?" Maya asked in disbelief.

"Yes… Maya, please understand… I'm doing all of this for you." Josh said with hopeful smile and put both his hands on the table, hoping that she'll catch his drift. She did because she started crawling her hands on the table before they finally reached his and they held hands.

* * *

Shawn drove through the gate and stopped his car as Caitlyn and Sofia watched. Riley and Shawn unfastened their seatbelts and got out of the car. "Thank you so much, Uncle Shawn…. I'm sorry that I bothered you."

"You're welcome, Riley and don't say that… You're just like my daughter." Shawn said with a smile. "Should I come pick you up?"

"No, it's fine."

"Alright… Take care of yourself." He said before getting back into his car and driving out of the gate and onto the road.

"Riley's here… Now it's my brother's turn!" Caitlyn said in excitement.

"This is so exciting! Riley will definitely be surprised." Sofia said and Caitlyn nodded excitedly.

"Good evening, do you have reservations?" The manager greeted when Riley made her way into the restaurant.

"Caitlyn…" She trailed of, not knowing what her last name is.

"Caitlyn Minkus?" He finished for here with frowned brows.

"Yes." She said with a smile.

"Come on in, this way." He guided her with a smile.

"Thank you." He led her to the table and she thanked him once again as she looked around the empty restaurant in confusion. The way the table was set and the candles that were lit on it, didn't seem like the way they usually decorated their tables and definitely didn't seem suitable for a dinner date between to friends. She sat down on the fancy red chair and looked around her some more.

Outside, another car made its way in and once Caitlyn saw it, she grabbed her seatbelt and hurriedly fastened it. "My brother is here too… Let's go." She drove away, not seeing that it was Lucas who got out of the car, not Farkle.

The manager once again led Lucas into the restaurant and Lucas looked around in confusion until he spotted a pretty brunette sitting on the only set up table right in the middle of the empty restaurant. His expression turned into disbelief as he realized who it actually was and Riley's expression mirrored his when she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" They both asked at the same time. "Actually what are you-" They spoke at the same time again then cut themselves off.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Caitlyn, what are you doing here?" riley explained.

"And I came here to pick Caitlyn up since her car ran out of fuel." Lucas explained as well.

"How so? How were you going to pick Caitlyn up? I was supposed to have dinner with her… She's not here yet either." Riley said in confusion.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand a thing… Caitlyn called Farkle and told him that her car ran out of fuel and that was about an hour ago and I came here to pick her up…" Lucas told her, trying to find an answer to this situation.

"That means you came here instead of Farkle?"

"Yeah…" Lucas said with a shrug.

Riley sighed in exasperation, "Now I get it…. She wanted to set me up with Farkle to get us back together." She said mostly to herself before looking up at Lucas. "She's trying to make us make up."

"Woaaaaah…" Lucas said with a smirk as he took the seat opposite from Riley. "Look at her, all grown up and planning stuff."

Riley huffed before looking at his grinning face. "You can even laugh in a situation like this!" She said in annoyance.

"In my opinion, we fell into such a funny trap… Besides, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to cry about it?"

Two waiters came with their food, "But it doesn't seem funny to me at all… I officially got tricked by a sixteen year old." Riley said with a huff as the waiters laid their food in front of them. "Thank you." She thanked the waiter.

"Alright, why did you come to meet Caitlyn?" Lucas asked.

"Because she insisted… I wouldn't have come if I knew that she was planning something like this." Riley said in frustration.

"Anyways… What happened, happened…. It's done and we can't do anything about it… I'm really hungry so let's just eat… We shouldn't let the food go to waste." Lucas said before taking his fork and knife and cutting a piece of his steak before putting it into his mouth as Riley watched.

"You probably don't think that I'll eat with you alone in an atmosphere like this, right?" Riley said as she raised both eyebrows.

"You completely misunderstood." Lucas said with a sarcastic expression and a chuckle. "This is not a date, young lady…. You can be sure of that…" He said and she looked away from him in annoyance. "Mmmm… the food is really good…. Caitlyn must really want you and Farkle to make up and get back together… I mean look at all the preparations… I came to this restaurant before and it was never this romantic…. Tonight, the whole set up is very romantic."

"Ah, Really?" Riley asked and Lucas nodded as he looked around. "It doesn't seem very romantic to me because you're here with me." Riley said and gave him a sweet smile before scowling, "It seems more like a nightmare!"

Lucas chuckled and sat back in his chair, "You're such a strange person."

"If a person is strange then it's better than being annoying." She threw back at him with the same sweet smile.

"Alright, I'll shut up." Lucas said and gave her a small smile. He didn't know why but he couldn't stop smiling. Maybe it was because the situation really is funny but he didn't feel like it was the only reason or the main reason. Just looking at her made him smile. He wouldn't admit it to her but he thought that she looked really pretty in her dark navy blue dress and now that he's seen it more, he really does believe that straight hair compliments her more than the curls that she rocked in Miami. It makes her look more mature and even more beautiful.

"The lies that were said in Miami chased me all the way here… I thought that was the end of my relationship with you guys."

"Why don't you say that my lie was so convincing then?" Lucas asked her with a smirk. Each smirk he held on his face turned into a small smile.

"What am I saying and to whom?" Riley asked herself sarcastically. "You can praise everything you do without a single problem, can't you? That means that a person reaches that point when he gets used to lying."

"I had to lie and it's over…. I couldn't have both my mum and dad against me." Lucas stated.

"You're right… For a person to be honest whatever the outcome is, is just a characteristic that only a brave, well-mannered person has… Which means that it's not from your characteristics." Riley said with her sweet, sarcastic smile.

"Am I a coward then?" Lucas asked her with a grin.

"Of course you are! You're afraid of your father and you're afraid of your girlfriend but you're not afraid of the people you lie to and upset…"

"Look, I've never thought about it that way before."

"You sit there and make fun of everything… Isn't it possible for a person to have one gram of maturity? Just one gram! I'm honestly watching you in amazement."

"I like amazing people." He said and gave her a wink and she looked at him with anger all over her face. Even then, he couldn't help but see her as beautiful.

"Nope, I can't put up with this any longer. I'm leaving." She turned around in her chair to get her bag but then the lights of the restaurant dimmed and it was almost only lit by candle lights.

"Ohhhhh…." Lucas said with a smirk and sat back.

"That was exactly what I needed." Riley said sarcastically then a waiter came and put a gift bag that looked like an envelope in front of her. She opened it in confusion as Lucas watched and took out a picture frame. It was a picture of her and Farkle. Riley could tell that Caitlyn cropped it out from their group photo because of the background and because she didn't have any pictures alone with Farkle. Her expression softened as she looked at it before it turned back into a scowl. Lucas stared at her with a soft, curious expression. "That's enough… I'm leaving."

She put the photo frame on the table and took her bag then got up and left the restaurant. Lucas reached his handout and took the photo frame and looked at it before sighing and following her out. He walked a few steps behind her towards the gate. "Let me drive you home if you want." He called.

"No need, I can't take care of myself really well." She said before turning back around and continuing on her way. She stood by the gate and kept looking back at him as he got into the car before driving off. "He leaves a girl alone in a place like this and this late and drives away…. Such a jerk, what else could be? A stupid jerk." She said to herself. She then looked at the security guard and smiled nicely. "Can we call a taxi?" She asked nicely.

"Unfortunately, no taxis pass by at all. You can find one if you walked to the main street or the main road."

"Alright, thank you." She said and started walking. She walked to the road and kept walking for about ten minutes when she noticed a car parked on the side of the road. She looked away from it as she recognized it.

"I'm asking you for the last time, are you gonna let me drive you home?" Lucas said through his window.

"No." Riley said with a scowl and kept walking.

"I've never seen a girl that is as stubborn as she is in my entire life." Lucas said to himself as she watched her walk before he started driving slowly behind her, deciding to keep driving until she decides to get into the car. Another car drove past his and slowed down beside Riley. She jumped further in fear.

"Let me drive you to where you're going." Riley kept walking without looking at the driver. "I'm talking to you, sexy thing… We don't want a sexy girl like walking and tiring herself when we can help." Lucas was watching from behind them and when he found their words so rude and how scared Riley looked, he drove up to them.

"Leave and don't cause a disaster for yourself because god knows if I get out of this car, I won't keep you alive for long." Lucas said angrily as he looked at the driver through the passenger's seat window. The driver got the message and drove away but Riley continued walking so Lucas drove to her. "Riley, get in the car." He said sharply. She looked around before huffing and getting into the car hurriedly.

"What do they say? Who falls into the sea, hugs the snake." She said as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Lucas asked, completely serious.

"Why are you making it seem like you're important enough for me to have any sort of feeling for you, even if it's hatred?" Riley asked, also serious.

"Okay… I won't go into this with you. I know my limits."

"Good." Riley said and Lucas drove off in frustration.

* * *

 **Hello, my lovely and very patient readers!**

 **First of all, I'm sorry for the delay... Eid ended yesterday and ever since my last update which was a couple of days before Eid I believe, I've been really busy. So I'm really sorry.**

 **I do hope that this long chapter makes up for it since I haven't posted a chapter this long in a while. Also, I'm really sorry for any grammatical mistake or any typos but when the chapter is +6K I fail to revise it and right now I'm pretty tired.**

 **Did you guys watch upstate? What did you think of it?**

 **I wasn't a big fan to be honest. To idea and theme of the episode was great but to me, it felt like they were just sticking random scenes together, if you know what I mean. Some scenes felt like they were just put to fill the space or something. Don't get me wrong, I liked every single scene but I didn't feel like the scene were that connected... Also, is it just me who felt like the episode was hinting Lucaya? I don't like to believe into this but, Lucas' face looked disturbed when Maya told him that he chose Riley. It felt like he was disturbed because he chose Maya... I feel like this something that Lucaya shippers say to give themselves hope or something but it really looked like that to me.**

 **Anyways, next chapter, you're in for more Rucas. It won't be a Rucas-less chapter like last one... you'll even have a somewhat nice/cute Rucas scene and if I have it my way with the length of the chapter, someone will find out that Riley is living at Lucas' house.**

 **Who do you think it will be? and why?**

 **Also, please suggest names for Maya's brother since I can't find one for him.**

 **As usual, don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**

 **Ah, For those of who may be wondering, 'Haneen'** **is an Arabic name that means 'Nostalgia'. Pretty name, huh?**


	19. Chapter 19: Am I dreaming?

Caitlyn had just arrived back in the city when her phone started ringing, "Ah, it's my brother already… I hope the made up!" She told Sofia excitedly before answering the phone. "Hey, brother."

"Hey, Cait…. Did Lucas arrive?"

"What? Lucas?" She said in complete shock.

"Yeah? He came to pick you up."

"Why would Lucas come pick me, brother!?" She exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter whether it's me or him… what's the difference if the result is the same?"

"It DOES matter, Farkle and it's a BIG difference." She replied angrily. "I mean why would you make Lucas come pick me up?"

"What the hell is the problem, Cait? I was at his house and he said that he'll come get you and left… Where's the problem in that?" Farkle said in frustration.

"Alright, brother. I can get home by myself." She said in frustration, her voice raising a little and hanged up.

Farkle took the phone away from his ear and looked at it in confusion, "What the hell is wrong with her?" He said to the phone.

"What happened? Did he take her?" Ian asked.

"I don't understand… She's saying that she's going home."

"Would you look at that, Sofia?" Caitlyn exclaimed in frustration, taking her eyes off the road for a second to look at her friend. "We went all out preparing for this and he doesn't even go?"

"I can't believe this! It's just like a big joke…. What are we gonna do now?"

"There is nothing that we can do now…. Riley must've been so surprised when she saw Lucas."

"Your brother is gonna be so mad for sure, Cait." At her words, Caitlyn expression turned into one that is full of fear.

"For sure." She said. "But I would've been his favorite person in the world if he were to come and make up with her."

"That was the goal anyways." Caitlyn just huffed loudly a few times.

"I take it that you didn't get Caitlyn." Farkle said through the phone.

"And I take it that you're most likely not informed with everything that had happened." Lucas answered while keeping his eyes on the barely lit road.

"What happened?" Farkle asked in complete confusion.

"Caitlyn planned a little something-something to get you and Riley to make up and back together."

"What?!" Farkle exclaimed, standing up from the couch. He didn't even know the entire story yet but he could already feel his anger/frustration building up.

"Yup… Unfortunately, I'm with Riley right now…. Not Caitlyn." Lucas said making Riley glare it him.

"Just wait a minute… I'm confused… Let's start from the beginning." Farkle said, rubbing his forehead. "Caitlyn pretended that she ran out of fuel so that I could hurry and get to her… so that me and Riley could make up… So her goal was to get the both of us alone at that restaurant together, right?"

"That's exactly it." Lucas said. "But unfortunately, because I came instead of you-"

"Yeah, unfortunately." Riley whispered with a glare in his direction.

"Alright, cousin…. I apologize to you in Caitlyn's place."

"It's no problem, Farkle. Don't say anything to Caitlyn now… I'm positive that she's already depressed enough that her plan didn't work."

"But what she did is extremely wrong." Farkle said in anger. "I mean… She has to know that she mustn't interfere with my private life…. Please send my apologies to Riley as well." Riley had a soft look with a small soft smile on her face while she listened to him.

"I will." Lucas said and looked at Riley briefly who in returned glared at him.

"Anyways, should I wait for you?"

"No need… You can take my car."

"Alright… Take care, Bye." Farkle said before hanging up with a sigh. "Caitlyn!"

"Look at her." Ian said shaking his head with a small smile. "Planning and doing such things."

"But she went _too_ far this time."

"But there is nothing that should make you mad in this, man. The girl is only doing this because she wants you happy."

"Anyways, let's say goodbye to my uncle and Cathy and leave." Farkle said with yet another sigh. They went outside through Lucas' balcony or glass door, however you wanna call it, that lead to the backyard where Joseph and Cathy were having dinner.

"Topanga makes really delicious food." Joseph said with a small smile.

"Amazing, isn't it? She's so talented." Cathy answered.

"Oh, hey boys… Good evening." Joseph greeted once he saw the two men approaching them. "Why didn't you join us?"

"Sorry, Uncle. We got carried away with our game." Farkle said with forced smile and a very tired voice.

"Won't you eat anything? Aren't you hungry?" Cathy asked.

"No, thank you." Ian said with a smile.

"I'm also not hungry… I ate a lot of the strawberry cake they served us." Farkle said.

"It's very delicious, isn't it?" Cathy said. "We just got a new cook… Her daughter made that cake."

"Really? And I thought that you got it from the bakery shop near our company."

"Yeah… It does look and taste just like the ones you buy."

"Yeah… Anyways, enjoy your food… We're leaving."

"Where's Lucas, though?" Joseph asked just as they going to turn around and leave.

"Um… Caitlyn's car ran out of fuel on the road and since the place requires a lot of driving, Lucas went instead of me when he saw that I'm not awake enough to drive that distance." Farkle explained.

"He was useful in something." Joseph joked, although his words had some truth to them and Cathy picked up on it so she narrowed her eyes at him.

Farkle only chuckled though, not picking up on the seriousness of his uncle's words. "Anyways, have a good night."

"You too, boys." Cathy said with a smile and they both left. Joseph's phone started ringing and Cathy couldn't help but look at the screen. Joseph also looked at it for a few moments before putting the phone on silence and putting it on the table, the screen facing the table. "Who's Jessic, babe?"

"It's no one important, honey."

"Then why are you not answering?" Something didn't feel right to Cathy but she couldn't put her fingers on it.

"Is it okay to talk about work at this time of night for god's sake?" Joseph said in frustration. "If it's important enough, he'll call tomorrow, won't he?" Cathy looked at her husband who went back to his food in silence. The way he was eating and his body language in general indicated that something was on his mind and making him quite uneasy.

* * *

"Hey, let's stop…. They look like they need help." Riley said when she spotted a white car from a distance, parked to the side of the road and a man stood by it with his arms up, flailing them like a person would do to attract attention for help.

"Are you kidding? We can't just stop like that… it could be a trap, what if something happens to us?" Lucas said while looking at her as if she's crazy.

"You're such a coward!" Riley exclaimed in frustration.

"Coward! We don't even know if he's a thief or even a murderer!" Lucas exclaimed in equal frustration. "I can't and won't risk it."

"You'll remember this moment when you need help and no one is going to help you, just like you're refusing to help that man right now." Riley snapped at him as she looked at the frantic man that they were passing right now.

"I don't put myself in situations like this." Lucas said as a matter of fact. They passed the man then Lucas suddenly stopped the car and sighed as Riley looked at him. "Actually if we think about the fact that a pot of bad luck like you is with me then you could be right." He didn't think that she necessarily brought bad luck but you could say that he wanted to justify why he listened to her words and stopped. He didn't know that though.

"You're the pot of bad luck!" Riley said back and Lucas reversed the car. He could see the man running towards him through the side mirrors as he put his car to a stop on the side of the road. When they were near enough, they could actually hear very loud groans of pain.

"Our car broke down and my wife is pregnant… Please help me, I think she's in labor or is about to deliver the baby." The man said frantically through Lucas' window. Upon hearing his words, Riley gasped and hurriedly took off her seatbelt and got out of the car and Lucas followed suit. "I called an ambulance but at this rate, she'll deliver the baby while they're on their way." The man continued frantically as the three of them ran towards his car, Riley being the fastest.

"TWINS?" She repeated the wife's words.

"Yes!" The woman said through her groans and screams of pain.

"Okay, calm down please." Riley said before smacking her own forehead. "What the hell am I saying? Please, try to breathe in and out slowly and regularly."

"I'm already doing that!" The woman snapped but Riley didn't mind since she knew that she didn't mean to be rude.

"Okay, let's continue doing that then." Riley said frantically.

"Please hurry… Let's hurry to the hospital, please." The man said as he took Riley's hand in a begging manner.

"C'mon, c'mon… Let's go!" Lucas said hurriedly and the three of them helped the woman out of the car with Riley helping her put her feet on the ground and Lucas and the husband grapping her arms and pulling her out. "Riley, please go on your phone and check where the nearest hospital is." Lucas said and Riley ran to the car and did as he asked.

"Calm down, honey! Just bear it for a tiny bit longer! You can do this, baby!" The man said as he and Lucas helped her go to Lucas' (Farkle's) car.

"I don't think I can bear this any longer!" She said with a groan.

"No, no, no! Bear it! Please, bear with it!" Lucas said frantically. He helped the groaning woman into the backseat and her husband followed in with her while Lucas got into the driver's seat and hurriedly fastened his seatbelt before driving off.

"FOUND IT! We'll continue on this road… I'll give you the directions as we go." Riley said as Lucas drove off. The woman kept screaming in the backseat and from what she'd read and seen on TV, Riley knew that it meant that her contractions were coming more frequently which meant that the delivery is nearing.

"RILEY, COME ON!" Lucas yelled as he drove the car.

"Okay, okay! Don't go through that street but the one after it." she said as she pointed at the road. "Please bear with it a little longer! We're almost there."

"I think they're coming!" The woman said.

"No, no! Don't let them come yet! Take a deep breath in then exhale it. You can do this!" Her husband said, trying to calm her down.

"Breathe!" Riley told her and started taking deep breaths herself to show the woman. At least that was her aim but then she kept doing it to calm herself not only the woman which made Lucas glance at her.

 ***GMGWMGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Maya and Josh were walking together since he was walking her home with smiles on their faces. "We're here… that's the house." Maya said once they reached her house. "Are we seeing each other tomorrow, then?"

"Of course we are but… I don't how I'll wait until tomorrow." Josh said with a small smile while Maya blushed.

"I still can't believe that you're moving to LA… It still doesn't seem real to me." Maya said with a small smile of her own.

"Maya, I can move to the other side of the world for you…. For real." Maya smiled at him and they both started to lean in to kiss when someone saw them from afar.

"MAYA!"

"JASON! Oh my god run, Josh! Hurry up, it's my brother! RUN AWAY!" Maya said as she pushed Josh away hurriedly and he started running while her brother started running after him as well.

"He's coming after me!" Josh exclaimed as he ran for his life. He turned left hoping that it would make him lose her brother.

"Please stop, Jason! Stop!" Maya said as she ran behind him as best as she could in her high heels. He stopped running after him when he turned left and looked back at Maya with a glare.

* * *

"It's as if _my_ wife is delivering a baby… God, I got so stressed! I still am!" Lucas told Riley as they stood outside of the operating room while her husband paced the waiting room back and forth. "That was such a hard situation… I hope it turns out good." He said to the pacing husband, sincerely.

"It _is_ very hard but it's still a _very_ beautiful feeling." The man stopped his pacing and said with a big smile. Riley guessed that he was no older than twenty-eight since he had a good body and a very handsome, young face. "Hopefully, one day you'll get to experience it too."

Lucas' smiled turned into a surprised expression while Riley immediately exclaimed, "I hope so!" before realizing what she said and looking at Lucas before looking back at the man. "I mean in the future…" She said before looking at Lucas who now had a smirk on his face. "Individually."

"Calm down… No one misunderstood you." Lucas told her with a chuckle that ended with a genuine smile from him and a glare from her. Right then the doors opened and the sound of faint baby cries were heard. Two nurses walked out while rolling two newborn hospital cribs with them.

"You're daughter and son are very well and healthy." One of them informed the husband who hurried towards them. "And you're wife is in a very good condition… We'll take her to a normal room in a minute."

"Thank god… thank you so much." The man said with happy tears rolling out of his eyes while Riley and Lucas looked at the tiny babies in awe, each of them with a soft smile on their face.

"They're so tiny and cute!" Riley said in awe.

"Yeah." Lucas agreed with her with a big smile and the nurses took the babies away to take care of them in the nursery.

"Thank you so much as well… I don't know what we would've done if it wasn't for you two." The man said sincerely.

"We're very happy that we helped." Lucas said with a smile and Riley nodded in agreement. The man excused himself.

* * *

About half an hour later, Lucas and Riley were standing in the mother's room cradling the tiny babies in their arms while the mother and father watched with smiles on their faces. Riley was holding the boy while Lucas was holding the girl.

"They're very cute." Riley said quietly to not disturb the sleeping baby in her arms. "God bless them for you."

"I hope they live happily and in good health for as long as they live." Lucas said while looking at the father.

"Thank you." The mother said with a smile. The babies started fidgeting so they carefully laid them back in the hospital cribs. They didn't notice the looks that were exchanged between the two young parents before the mother spoke again. "What are your names?"

"Riley." She said with a smile.

"Lucas."

"We'd like to name our children after you if you don't mind." The mother said with a smile.

Riley's head snapped to Lucas' with eyes filled with happiness and hope and the grin that was on his face told her that he didn't mind either. "We'd be very happy… Thank you so much." Riley said.

"We should go now… congratulations again." Lucas said.

"Thank you again… Maybe we wouldn't have been able to experience this happiness if you didn't stop your car and decide to help us." The father said with a grateful smile.

"You shouldn't think about that now… I mean you're now with your two beautiful children and they're very well and healthy… nothing else matters not even the troubles you went through until you got to this point…They're over now anyways." Riley said while Lucas smiled big while looking at her.

"Thanks to you." The father said and they both smiled in return.

"Excuse us…. Bye." Lucas said and they both left with smiles on their faces. "It's a good thing that I listened to you and stopped to help them." Lucas told her as they made their way out of the hospital doors and down the stairs.

"For the first time my day ended well with you." Riley said but the little giggle that escaped her lips and her smile told him that she was just being playful. He grinned at her.

"Yeah… C'mon, let me take you home." He said and she nodded. They didn't even move two steps when his phone started ringing. "Hey, Kayli." Riley didn't know why but upon hearing her name, her smile was automatically wiped away and she suddenly didn't feel happy anymore. "I'm okay, babe… I had something to do and now I'm going back home…. Okay, should I call you? Alright, Bye."

"There's a taxi right there… Let me take it instead." Riley said when he hanged up.

"But I was going to take you home?" Lucas said in confusion, noticing her change of demeanor.

"No need for that… The taxi is right there." She pointed at the taxi that was parked right behind his car.

"But-"

"Drive carefully, good night." She cut him off and walked away towards the taxi before he could say anything else. Lucas kept looking at her with a frown on his face before getting into his car when the taxi drove off.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Minkus and Caitlyn were watching a movie together when Farkle made his way into the dark living room that was only lit by the TV lights. "Good evening."

"Oh hey, son… Come join us, we're watching a movie." Minkus said with a smile and Caitlyn suddenly faked a yawn.

"I'm suddenly so sleepy… I'll go to sleep now." She said and faked another yawn as she stood up from the couch.

"But weren't we watching the movie?" Minkus asked in confusion and Caitlyn went to leave but Farkle blocked her exit.

"She's not sleepy, dad. She's aware of what she did wrong and that's why she's trying to run away from me." Farkle said as he looked down at his much shorter than him sister.

"I swear that I didn't have a bad intention, Farkle!" She said apologetically.

"What's wrong? Caitlyn, Farkle?" Minkus asked in confusion.

"Don't interfere with my private life ever again, Caitlyn… What you did was so wrong on many levels." Farkle scolded in a calm voice.

"Everything got ruined anyways… It's won't happen again, I promise." She said and snuggled herself into his chest.

"But this is the last time I'll let things like this slip."

"Okay, promise." She said and wrapped her arms around him before pulling away and looking at him. "Come watch the film with us too." She said as she pulled him towards the couch. She took the bowl of popcorn that was on the couch between her and her father and put it on her lap as she sat between Farkle and the very confused Minkus.

"Tell me what happened too… don't leave me in the dark like this."

"Let's not talk about this, dad." Caitlyn said. "Look we're gonna miss the film." Farkle fed her some popcorn and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in the older brother fashion as she also fed him some popcorn.

* * *

Lucas made his way through their house's gate and parked the car before getting out and making his way inside and directly towards his room. His mood has dropped since Riley left and he had no idea why. All he knew was that something went wrong and made her not want to get in the car with him. Either that or she's bipolar but he highly doubted that it's the latter.

He went into his room and closed his door before making his way out of his room through the glass doors, feeling like he still needed some air. He sat down on his small circular water bed that was right by the pool then scooted back so that his back was supported and he was able to lay his legs out.

Unbeknown to him, was the taxi that pulled up outside of the house and pretty brunette that made her way out of it. "Good evening." She greeted the security guard as she passed him on her way to the penthouse. She quietly opened the door and went inside where her mother jumped up from the bed in relief when she got into the bedroom.

"You're back." Topanga said and Riley sat down beside her on the bed and kissed her cheeks and hugged her. "How was your night?"

"It was great, mum." That wasn't a complete lie since the end of her night at the hospital with the couple kind of made up for everything else that went wrong.

"That's good… Go change and then go to bed, you've been up since early morning today and you need to rest." Topanga said with a smile to which Riley nodded and stood up.

"Good night, mummy!"

"Good night, baby girl." Topanga said and laid back in bed as Riley went to the drawers and retrieved a pair of blue pajama pants and a white shirt that had blue writing on it. She changed into them hurriedly and wiped her makeup off then brushed her teeth.

Lucas as well was doing the same and it was as if they were in sync because they both laid in bed at the same time.

 **(AN; Bear with me for this next part if it seems a bit confusing to you.)**

Lucas and Riley laid in bed and even though they were tired, neither seemed to be able to sleep. They were both looking up at their ceiling, seemingly deep in thought.

Lucas' mind kept recalling the dinner from earlier and how his breath seemed to catch when he went into the restaurant and spotted her. His pretty brunette. He didn't know why but he liked calling her that even though she isn't his and probably will never be, but she was the only brunette in his life and god was she amazingly pretty. He recalled how he didn't seem to contain or stop his smiles while he was with her, especially tonight. The night seemed to be playing like a movie but in slow motion in his mind. He then remembered how angry he got when these men scared/bothered her… He couldn't remember the last time he got this mad. He almost became what Farkle and Caitlyn called 'Texas Lucas' again. They gave him that name because when they were in high school, he never seemed to control his anger once he actually got angry and it started in middle school when he was still in Texas.

Riley had a soft smile on her face and it was now that she noticed how Lucas was smiling genuinely all through dinner. She also felt like tonight was playing on the ceiling in slow motion. She recalled their car trip to the hospital with the married couple and the funny look he gave her when she was breathing in and out to show the woman and calm herself.

They both recalled the same scenes in their head with soft smiles on their faces. Lucas remembered how good she looked with a baby in her arms. He's sneaked glances at her back in the hospital. She looked like a real mother cradling her new born baby.

Somehow, they remembered the way they ran into each other earlier in the day when Rocky ran after her. That was the very first time Lucas seemed to be mesmerized by her almost natural beauty, even though there has been times in Miami where she was more dressed up and her makeup was done beautifully. He seemed to like her simple everyday look/style more but maybe it's because he didn't get to see that in Miami. He seemed to be mesmerized whenever he saw her in a different style since the only other time he did was when he saw her dressed up for the first time when he and Farkle went to pick her up from her hotel room for the party that they ended it running away from.

Riley also recalled the way he told her that he loved her playfully just to get on her nerves but she couldn't help but smile since it sounded so good from his lips.

She still doesn't know why she got upset when Kayli called him. Maybe it's because Kayli is what got her in this mess? Because if Lucas didn't have a girlfriend then they wouldn't have needed to lie like that. A part of her knew that it wasn't the real reason but she decided not to listen to it.

They both knew that they don't hate each other, but Lucas now was sure that he quite liked her company. They were both secretly looking forward to the next time they'll run into each other, whenever that might be.

"Of course I'm hungry." Riley said with a sigh as her stomach grumbled, rudely interrupting her train of thoughts. "I didn't eat one full meal throughout the entire day." She got out of bed a slipped into her flip-flops/slippers and headed out of the penthouse quietly with her phone with her. She tiptoed to the kitchen, thanking god for the glass door that allowed you to get into the kitchen with getting into the actual house.

Lucas decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water so he got up from his bed and slipped into his slippers as well with his dark navy blue pajama bottoms and white V-neck on. He went up the stairs that led to the main floor since the pool/backyard and his room were kind of built at a level that is not quite the basement and not quite the normal ground height. **(AN; Does that even make sense to you?)**

Riley checked that no one is coming before quietly opening the fridge and looking at it to see what she can eat. There was the cake that she made and a few other things and her favorite chicken casseroles that her mother makes. She took it out and put it on the kitchen isle and took out a plate and a spoon to scoop some onto the plate.

Lucas was looking at his feet, still deep in thought as he made his way into the kitchen. He was almost inside it when he spotted someone. Not any someone but… _her._ The reason why he couldn't sleep until now. He couldn't seem to move an inch as he watched her scoop something out and into a plate before starting to eat. He couldn't see her face but he could recognize those brown locks anywhere.

 _What is she doing here? How did she come here? Am I dreaming? Or worse… Am I hallucinating?_

 _Riley is in her pajamas... In my kitchen!_

* * *

 **If that wasn't a Rucas filled chapter, then please inform me lol. You could say that this is the start for our Rucas filled chapters although not all the upcoming chapters will actually be filled with Rucas but we'd at least have a Rucas encounter every chapter.**

 **How cute was this chapter, huh?**

 **You guys seem to love it when they remember their times together so here you go. Also, Riley is finally starting to show feelings towards Lucas other than hatred... well that's a big word so let's go with... disliking him? yeah much better.**

 **Until now though, Farkle is still the one she wants so she's still not quite there yet.**

 **Anyways, I said what I felt a little wrong last chapter, I feel like Lucas' face in the bay window scene is because once again someone is telling him what to do and kind of confusing him 'cause he had the same expression in GMTexas when Riley forced him into being with Maya. Either way, his facial expression was on point. I can't wait for True Maya and Ski lodge... Ah I just wanna skip to Ski-lodge part 2 then watch what's in between later. I'm not excited for Lucas' choice as much I'm excited for how he'll announce it since I've known from the start who he'll choose (If he didn't choose to choose neither to keep them from falling apart because there was a time when I believed that he'll do that). Also, I heard that the Joshaya scenes are gonna be super good but I hope they don't cut anything out like they did with Upstate.**

 **Ah! I also heard that the writers said that Lucas will have his moment in Ski lodge! Although from the spoilers I got, he didn't have a moment aka a kiss in ski lodge... But I'm excited nonetheless and I hope it's not a small peck like their first kiss. *Fingers crossed***

 **Back to our story, next chapter, someone else is gonna find out about Rucas living together and it's gonna be quite funny. It's either next chapter or the chapter after it, depends on how long the next one is gonna be.**

 **I need you guys' help... We're gonna have a birthday party in the story soon and I need a dress for Riley to wear and I'm quite lost. Can you suggest looks for her? It would be of a huge help if you choose a celebrity red carpet look for me. It also doesn't matter whether it's Rowan or not. I have an outfit in mind so if you're suggestions don't match up to what I'm picturing then I'll stick with what I have since it's a Rowan look anyways which makes it easier for you to imagine on her.**

 **Who do you think will be the next one to find out? and what do you think Lucas' reaction is gonna be?**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and leave me suggestions as well.**

 **If it's morning where you live, Have a nice day and if it's night time then, have a good evening and good night. It's 3:30AM Where I live so it's a good night for me.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx.**


	20. Chapter 20: Dreams

Lucas awoke from his shocked state and decided that the best thing to do is hide. He stepped back and hide by the entrance of the kitchen, where he could see her perfectly but she couldn't. Some may find it weird how he was sure that it's her by only recognizing her hair but Riley's body had a certain posture to it and the way she moved around the kitchen as well as her shape. Besides, by now he'd seen the side of her face so any doubt went away.

Riley took a forkful of the food on her plate and closed her eyes as she hummed quietly, her hunger making the food taste even better than it normally does. She took a few more forkfuls as Lucas watched her with a scowl on his face, still deciding whether to keep hiding or make his presence known to her.

Her phone dinged so she took it from where it was placed on the kitchen table where she was sitting and found that she had a message from Maya.

 **-It went very well, pumpkin! We made up *-* It would've ended perfectly if only we hadn't got caught by Jason… Anyways, I'll tell you the details tomorrow xx. -Peachesxox**

"Crazy girl." Riley said to herself with a smile on her face.

 **-That's great, Peaches! Can't wait to hear the whole story xx**

She texted back before locking her phone again and going back to her food. Lucas huffed silently and threw his hands up in the air in frustration. She was taking so long and his feet were starting to ach.

"I almost died of hunger!" She said to herself as she kept eating forkful after forkful. Lucas smirked and shook his head, remembering how she refused to eat the fancy restaurant food.

 _What is this girl doing here? I'm starting to actually be scared_. Lucas thought to himself as he continued to watch her.

"But it was worth being hungry… Tonight was beyond amazing." She spoke with a smile that Lucas was able to sense in her words. Upon hearing that, a small smile took place on his face before he saw her getting up from the table where she had her back to him so he hurriedly hid again since he had stuck his face out to watch her. He started running towards the stairs that lead to his room but he ended it up running into a vase that they had on the floor and knocked it down loudly.

Riley gasped and looked behind her while Lucas hid once again in case she looked out the kitchen. "I have to leave quickly!" She whispered to herself in panic as she put her dish in the dishwasher before she hurried out the kitchen through the glass door that she came through, forgetting her phone on the kitchen table. She made her way inside the penthouse quietly and laid down in her bed, ready to go to sleep.

When Lucas heard the kitchen door close, he went back inside the kitchen and went towards the kitchen table where the glass pitcher of water was along with a glass. As he poured himself some water, he spotted her phone on the kitchen table where she was eating.

"Look at my luck." Lucas said to himself with a smirk and picked the phone up. He ringed himself through her number before deleting the call from her phone call log. "Maybe I'll need it." He saved her number on his phone.

"I forgot my phone!" She whispered to herself and got up from her bed. She hurried out of the penthouse.

Lucas knew that he shouldn't but he couldn't help but go to her camera roll and look at her pictures. They were mostly of her and that girl that was with her in Miami, the one that threatened him. He went to her Instagram account and checked her pictures. Once again they were mostly of her and the blondie or of her alone. He unconsciously bit his lip while scrolling through her pictures.

Riley was almost by the Kitchen's door when she sneezed, alarming Lucas who hurriedly closed the app and locked the phone. He placed it on the kitchen isle forgetting that it wasn't there when she left it and went to where he was hiding again.

Riley made her way inside the kitchen and directly towards the kitchen table before looking at it in confusion. She looked around the kitchen from her place and found it on the kitchen isle. "That's weird… I'm sure that I left it on the table not here…. Whatever." She took her phone and hurriedly left the kitchen.

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, "I almost got caught… Phew." He said to himself with a shake of his head.

They both went back to their beds but only Riley immediately fell into deep sleep. Lucas kept tossing and turning in his bed before laying on his back. "She can't be a thief or broke into the house… She was so comfortable and she was even in pajama pants…" He said to himself as he looked up at the ceiling. "I would've met her a long time ago if she had something to do with Mrs. Katy… She must be connected to the new cook we got… she could be her daughter or somehow close to her… or she could be a new servant or maid that works for us." Lucas gave throaty chuckle, "Look at the situation we're in… It seems like a joke." He said before falling into deep sleep.

The hours passed and the sun kicked the moon's butt and lit up the city of Los Angeles, California. Riley opened her eyes to see her mother standing by the dressing table putting the finishing touches on the French braid she'd put in her hair for the day.

"Oh, you're awake?" Topanga said with a smile before going over to her and sitting beside her on the bed, making Riley sit up. "Good morning, baby girl."

"Good morning, Mum." Riley said still sleepy and gave a kiss on the cheek.

"Why don't you sleep some more? It's still six thirty."

"I want to but I can't… I have to get up… Me and Maya are gonna look for a job today so it's better to start early."

"Don't tire yourself too much, Riles… Look our payments have lessened and we don't need to spend unnecessary money anymore… You don't need to work, my salary is more than enough for the two of us."

"But I can't stay in the house like that either, Mum… I have to work if not for the money, then for something to spend my day doing." Riley said and rubbed her tired eyes. "You know that I lose my mind when I stay in the house with nothing to do."

"I know, sweetie… I hope you find a job like you want as soon as possible." Topanga said with a smile and kissed her forehead, like a typical mother does to her children.

"Me too, Mum." Riley said with a smile.

"I'll go start on breakfast now, honey…. You too come join us in the kitchen, okay?" Riley nodded with a smile. "Omelets?" Riley nodded excitedly. "With cheese?" Another excited nod. "Alright, come to the kitchen after you get ready."

"Okay, Mum." Riley said with a smile that Topanga returned before leaving the bedroom and the penthouse all together.

"Alright, Katy… What do they want for breakfast today?" Topanga asked as she tied her apron around her face.

"Um… The usual, they didn't ask for anything extra." Katy answered after thinking about it.

"Alright, I'll make Riley some cheese omelets and then we can continue making breakfast." Topanga said.

"What about Mr. Joseph's lunch?"

"I already cooked it last night and it's in the fridge…. We'll just put it in a lunch box."

"Already… We gotta prepare the table… Is Elona here?"

"Elona called and said that her son is a little sick so she'll be late for work today." Topanga said.

"Oh I hope he feels better…. Mackenzie is not coming to work today as well because she fell and hurt her back… Elona's son chose the right day to be sick." Katy said with a sigh.

Just then, Riley walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a loose black and white stripped t-shirt dress with quarter length sleeves along with a denim vest and a pair of white converse. She had a pair of spandex shorts underneath in case anything happens, she didn't want her butt and underwear showing. She already did her makeup keeping it simple with a dark pink nude lip and her straight hair was up in a ponytail. For accessories, she just put on a layered silver necklace along with a black chocker and a few silver rings on her fingers.

"Riley could help, right Riley?" Topanga said.

"Good morning, Aunt Katy…" Riley said before looking back at her mother. "What can I help with?"

"Well, you can take those plates to the table in the backyard right now, okay?" Katy said pointing at the plates sitting on the kitchen table behind her. Riley nodded and took the plates from the table.

"Riley wait… Take those table sheets and lay them on the table beautifully, okay?" Topanga told her as she handed her some pink cloths. Riley took them from her with a smile and left the kitchen.

Lucas had just got up and washed his face before opening his glass doors to let some fresh air and light into his room. He was stretching when he spotted Riley coming down the stairs that led to the backyard so he jumped back into his room and hid behind the curtained part of the clear glass door where she couldn't see him.

"I almost got caught again!" He said to himself as he watched her make her way around the pool and to the table. She laid the two table cloths that he mother gave her on the table that was made for five before putting two plates in front of each chair of three of the five chairs, one big plate and another smaller one along with a fork, a knife and a spoon. When she was happy with how the table looked, she ran back towards the stairs and back to the kitchen.

Lucas took that as his opportunity to mess with her head so he ran towards the table and messed up the table cloths that she'd just laid there. "I'll make you crazy and you'll see it." He said with a smirk before running back to his room to watch her reaction.

Riley came back a minute later with a tray that had the tea cups on it along with a small basket of bread. She stopped in her tracks in front of the table. "How did that happen? I swear it was neat when I left it!" She whined to herself in confusion.

"She's shocked!" Lucas said to himself with a smirk. He couldn't hear her but could see her well.

"Who messed up the table?" She asked herself and looked around her, making Lucas stick his head back inside his room. She huffed before fixing the table again and putting the three tea cups along with their tiny plates that they sit on by the other plates and putting the bread in the middle of the table. She turned around and headed back towards the kitchen.

Lucas ran back out and took the slices of bread in his hand and clutched one slice between his lips since it didn't fit into his hand before running back to his room.

Riley came back with a plate of sliced cucumber and tomatoes, and a plate of smoked turkey and sausages. Once again she stopped in her tracks. "Where did the bread go?! I swear it was in that basket!" She said to herself as she looked at the now empty basket. "Yesterday the phone, and now this! This house is weird!" She said starting to get scared. "I hope it's not haunted! I'm getting scared…" She huffed once again and put the plates on the table and hurried k to the kitchen with the empty basket. Lucas was watching her with a grin on his face.

"Aunt Katy, can I have bread?" She said as she handed Katy the basket.

"You already took it, Riley." Katy said.

"I did, didn't I?" Riley said with a half-frowning, half-scared face.

"Yeah, you did."

"But when I went back, the basket was empty." Riley said and Katy looked at her in confusion before shrugging and going to get her more bread. "I didn't understand either…. Also, I'd prepared the table very neatly and when I went back with the tea cups, it was completely messed up." Riley explained before looking at Katy in fear. "Aunt Katy… Is there anyone living in the house?"

"Of course there is, Riley… You can count them if you want."

"No, I didn't mean that…" She said with a shake of her head and she looked like she's about to cry, "Is there ghosts in the house?"

Topanga giggled at her daughter's words, "No, sweetie… Is something like that even possible in a house where many people live?"

"That's almost impossible, Riles."

"I don't know… I just couldn't find a reason for what's happening." Riley said.

"Ah… Maybe they unleashed the dog and he's the one doing all that." Katy said.

"Oh yeah, maybe it's all the dog's doing, Riley." Topanga agreed.

"Okay… I'll go check then." Riley said before taking a plate of cheese and the now filled basket of bread.

Lucas was still by the table taking the sausages and bacon but he didn't leave in time. "Shit!" He said as he heard her footsteps so he hurriedly hid behind a bush near the table.

"Only the meat sausages are gone as well as the bacon… the turkey is still there… Aunt Katy is right. The dog definitely did all of this." Riley said to herself. "Such a shameless dog!" She said loudly as if the dog could understand her and Lucas looked at her in confusion, finally near enough to hear her. She laid the plates on the table before making her way around it. "But I'm gonna find you! Where are you?" She said as she walked towards the bush Lucas was hiding behind so he hid further behind it.

"Riley!" Elona said as she made her way towards the table with another two plates of breakfast food. Riley turned around and walked back towards the table with a smile. "I'll continue getting the table ready, Riley… Thank you for helping me again. Your mother is waiting for you in the kitchen with your breakfast ready."

"Alright… Mrs. Elona… Be careful, I think they unleashed the dog and he's grabbing whatever is on the table.

"But I just saw him in his house…" Elona said with a frown. "Anyways, I'll be careful… thank you, Riley." Riley nodded with a smile and left.

Lucas kept looking at her until he was sure that she left and came out from behind the bushes towards Elona. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Lucas…. Would you like something specific for breakfast?"

"No… But I'll have my breakfast in my room, if that's alright." Elona nodded and went back to sorting out the dishes in her hand. "I have a question…." He said casually and went on when she looked up. "Did someone new start working for us?"

"Do you mean Topanga? The new cook?"

"No, other than her." She shook her head. "I saw a young girl though… Is she a guest?"

"Oh… I think you mean Riley… Riley is Topanga's daughter and she's living in the penthouse with her mother." She explained with a smile.

Lucas smiled and looked at his feet. "Now I get it." He said to himself before looking back up at Elona. "Alright, thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Lucas… I'll tell them to get your breakfast to your room." Lucas nodded and started walking back to his room with a smile.

"So that means that I live with Riley in the same house?" He said to himself and felt his heart beat a tiny bit faster but he didn't know whether it was excitement or happiness that it means that he'll run into her more even if he's the only one who can see her. "Exactly like a joke."

* * *

"Hey, baby." Minkus said as he made his way into his living room.

"Hey, love." Ella answered back.

"Where are you, baby? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to the airport with Kayli." She said before looking at Kayli who was sitting beside her in the backseat of the taxi.

"Oh, you're with Kayli… I was going to ask if I can come pick you up but you wouldn't want that since you're with Kayli….Can I at least send a car to pick you up?"

"No, no need for that at all… I'll call you when I arrive."

"Okay, honey…. Have a safe flight." Minkus said.

"Thanks, love…" She said before they both hanged up and Minkus headed outside to their backyard where Farkle and Caitlyn were already having breakfast.

"Good morning." He said with a smile.

"Good morning, daddy." Caitlyn said with a bright smile before looking at his white button up that was tucked inside a pair of jeans. "You look very handsome today…. Actually you look very handsome every day."

Minkus chuckled and Farkle just smiled. "You're also very beautiful, my little princess." Minkus said with a grin and pinched her cheek lightly as to not hurt her. Caitlyn giggled and went back to her food. "So what's up? You're up early today."

"I'm going shopping with Sofia today… We wanted to buy some stuff for my birthday and maybe look for dresses while we're there."

"Alright… Do you need anything from me?"

"No, daddy." She said with a shake of her head. "But I was thinking…. What if we celebrate my birthday in Ian's café/restaurant? I thought we should discuss it so that we know from now."

"I don't mind." Minkus said.

"Do you want me to talk to Ian?" Farkle spoke.

Caitlyn looked at him nervously, "No, you don't have too… Me and Sofia are going there today anyways…. I'll talk to him."

"Alright, honey." Farkle said.

* * *

"Lucas probably doesn't intend on waking up early today, does he?" Joseph said in frustration as he and Cathy ate breakfast.

"Let the boy sleep, honey… He's in a vacation anyways." Cathy said and took a sip of her tea.

Joseph chuckled, "You're amazing, Cath…. He's all grown up and you still call him a boy…. He could help me with work and carry some responsibilities… but how can he? He's just a boy, you say." Joseph said with a tight smile. "Let the troublemaker rest for a few days…. After that, I have some pretty good things planned for him." He said then took a sip of his tea as well.

"Like what?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, you're interested… well then let me tell you and then you keep talking and make me let go of my plans… Not gonna happen this time." He said with a grin.

"But I didn't succeed with making him go to France… this is different."

"But it wasn't even so bad… at least he worked a bit for the hotel's opening ceremony." He said before grapping his fork and knife once again. "Actually, only god knows how much work he did, if he did any." He mumbled loudly. "I personally think that he was just an obstacle for Farkle and didn't do any work."

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"So, what do you want as a present this year, princess?" Minkus asked with a smile.

"Well… I already have and bought everything that I want… I don't have something specific that I want." She said after thinking about it.

"Caitlyn… Are you sick?" Farkle asked sarcastically while his face held a serious expression before putting a hand on her forehead. "How do you not want anything?"

"Brother!" Caitlyn whined with a smile removing his hand from her forehead and he chuckled. "It does seem weird to me too when I think about it…. Let me think about it again."

"I think you should think about it again too, baby girl…. There must be something that you want." Minkus said with a wink and she smiled.

"Okay, daddy." She said cheerfully. If you haven't guessed it, Caitlyn is a daddy's girl. Since her mother left them when she was barely a toddler, she pretty much spent her entire life so far without a mother. Minkus always tried to make her happy and you could say that she gets whatever she wishes for. She's a spoiled daddy's girl. "But if you want to buy me something then I won't refuse it… I don't want it to be bad for you so just buy me whatever you want." She said to her father.

"That's my sister." Farkle said and they all laughed. "Do you want something specific from me?"

"No, I don't want anything… You forgave me about the Riley thing and that's enough for me." Caitlyn said with a smile making him frown as he remembered.

"The Riley thing? Who's Riley?" Minkus asked curiously.

"Oh… No one, daddy." Caitlyn said and took a sip of her juice while Farkle did the same.

"Well, I'm done eating so I'll leave now." Farkle said after a few minutes of silence and got up.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Minkus said and got up.

"Alright then, Bye… Take care of yourselves." Caitlyn said standing up as well and tiptoeing to give Farkle a kiss on the cheek then doing the same to Minkus.

"Riley is his girlfriend that you told me about, isn't she?" Minkus asked her since Farkle had already went inside.

"Yeah, she is." She said and Minkus nodded before heading inside. Caitlyn sat back down to continue her breakfast. "Off… I gotta call Riley." She whined as she looked at her phone, contemplating whether to call her like she should or not. "I made a fool of her and myself… What am I gonna say to her now? The best thing to do is text her… Yeah, I'll text her… Ugh, she must be so mad at me right now but I can't blame her of course, I deserve it… Ugh, Farkle look at the situation I'm in right now because of you… if only you didn't send Lucas… I have to write a beautiful, meaningful message… What do I write?"

She was just talking to herself while looking at her phone. "I'm so sad about last night… No that's not good at all. It has to be affectionate… UGH! I can never succeed in these things!"

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"You're always talking like that in front of him and you make him upset… Don't Therapists say over and over again to not compare our children to other's children? Since that could make them break down, don't they say that, Joseph?"

"You're very funny, Cathy… I haven't left a thing that I haven't said in front of the guy since he was a kid… Did you ever see him affected?" Joseph said with a chuckled as Cathy glared at him. "If it had affected him even one bit then he would've made a program for himself at the very least, wouldn't he? And I'm not even talking about a work program but one for his life…. It's almost eight in the morning and he's still sleeping."

"As if Farkle doesn't have a flaw either…" Cathy said with a huff. "Compared to Lucas, Farkle is… As if he's a little… I mean…" She trailed off not finding anything to say before huffing. "It's not normal for someone to be as perfect as you make him seem to be, Joseph… Honestly, I've always been afraid of that kind of people."

Back in the kitchen, Riley was finally done with her breakfast. "Thank you for the food, Mum… I'm leaving now." Riley said while getting up.

"Alright, sweetie." Topanga said and kissed her cheeks. "I wish you luck." Riley smiled and left the kitchen.

"Topanga, is Mr. Lucas' breakfast ready?" Elona asked after making her way into the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's ready. You can take it." Topanga said after looking at the tray that sat on the kitchen isle, to make sure nothing was missing. The kitchen phone started ringing so she went to answer it, holding up a finger to Elona to tell her to wait. "Yes, Mrs. Cathy? Okay, I'll send it right away…. Okay, don't worry"

"I forgot my bag." Riley said as she ran back into the kitchen.

"Come here, Riley." Topanga said before holding up a blue lunch box/container, whatever you wanna call it, that had food inside it already. "Elona, you need to take this to Mr. Friar… Let Riley take care of the breakfast and you take that box to them, alright?"

They both nodded and then Riley took the tray of food and made her way inside the house, remembering that her mother told her that his room was down the stairs.

"If things went on that way, then I'll be the one that makes her lose what she has left of a mind." Lucas said to himself with a smirk.

Riley reached his door and carefully balanced the tray between her waist and the door while holding it with one hand to knock with the other. She knocked two times, "I came with your breakfast… Is anybody in there?"

"Shit!" Lucas whispered as he recognized her voice and jumped up from the couch and onto his bed before covering his entire body with the covers. "Come in!" He said from under the covers in a thick voice.

Riley frown but opened his door and carefully went inside. She started looking around for a guy to finally notice the big lump on the bed. "Just put it on the coffee table." The guy said from under the covers, sticking his arm up and using his pointer finger to point at the table.

"Okay..." She said with a frown _. What a weirdo_. She thought to herself before putting the tray doing and leaving room and closing the door behind her. "Rich people are weird… What does it mean for a person to speak from under the covers? He'll die from the lack of air."

Lucas waited a few second after hearing the door close before taking the covers off of his face. "I almost got caught again… I don't think she understood, thankfully." He got up from his bed and opened his door again to check that she was going before closing it.

"Here's the lunch box, Mrs. Cathy." Elona said putting the lunch box on the table.

"Thanks, Elona…. Is Lucas still sleeping until now?" Cathy asked.

"No, he's awake, Mrs. Cathy."

"Then why didn't he come have breakfast?"

"He wanted breakfast to be sent to his room."

Cathy turned to Joseph in worry, "I wonder if he sick! Let me go and check on him." She said and went to stand up.

"Sit down, honey… Sit down." Joseph said with a smile. "Our son is not sick, nothing is wrong with him…. He's hiding because I'm going to work today and taking him with me."

"You really put the guy in your head, Joseph." Cathy said with a huff before turning to Elona. "Please give that lunch box to Joseph's driver to take it to his company… It's his diet food."

"Okay, Mrs. Cathy." Elona said before leaving with the lunch box in hand.

"Another diet!" Joseph said. "I mean… Things like that are not suitable for me, Cathy."

"But the increase of the cholesterol percentage in your body is totally suitable for you." She said sarcastically.

"But the doctor said that it's nothing serious, Cath." Joseph argued.

"Honey, the doctor said that it will not be anything serious if you're careful and if you eat well." Cathy explained, feeling as if she's arguing with a little kid to make him take his medicine.

Joseph closed his eyes and huffed, "I learned years ago that I can't argue with you but I forgot that for a bit."

Cathy giggled and patted his hand, "And here I reminded you, honey… You're welcome." His phone started ringing again and just like the night before, he scowled and turned his phone face down on the table. "Answer him, honey… He's been calling since last night… maybe there's something important." Cathy was really starting to get suspicious of that Jessic that made Joseph's mood change drastically.

"No, honey… I'll call him when I get to work." He said with a small smile and took a sip of his tea.

"Alright…" She said sternly with a tight smile and put her fork and knife down. "Is that Jessic a male or a female?"

"Have you ever seen a woman named Jessic? Of course it's a man."

"That's good… That means that you're not hiding anything from me." She said and gave him a smile before taking an olive into her mouth.

Joseph chuckled but that only made Cathy look at him suspiciously. "What would I hide from you, Cath?" Cathy stayed silent but kept looking at him suspiciously.

* * *

Riley was finally able to leave the house with a white laser cut backpack that she got as present from river island that had three zippers, one in the middle that was just decorative and two at the top. She preferred wearing backpacks rather than handbags especially on days like today when she'd be going to many places. She didn't like having to worry about leaving her handbag somewhere or having it get in the way while she's walking.

"I'm very happy that you made up, Peaches…. But Jason seeing you two is not good at all." Riley said through the phone.

"Don't even ask." Maya said as she was walking through a park in a pair of black ripped skinny jeans along with a white t-shirt that had 'I'm somebody's DUFF' on it in black. She paired that with a pair of black heeled ankle booties and some silver rings around her fingers and a black bag that had the long handle to go across the body. She had her hair curled in her signature messy curls look and her makeup simple with a light brown almost nude lip color. "It's a long story… I have to say it to you when we're face to face…. You tell me, how did your dinner with Caitlyn go?"

"I have all the shocking stuff." Riley said with a sigh.

"How is that?"

"My story is longer."

"We have to meet ASAP then… When are you leaving the house?"

"I already left, where are we gonna meet?" Riley listened to Maya suggestion. "Okay, I'll meet you there."

Back in Lucas' room, he was pacing around his entire room out of boredom and having nothing to do. "What the hell is this? I'm now officially a prisoner in my own room…. I wonder if she's still in the house." He said with a smirk before going to his door and opening it. He sneaked a few glances at the area before getting out of his room. He headed to the kitchen that was empty and looked around it.

"Mr. Lucas." Topanga said with a smile after coming back into the kitchen, startling him a little. "I'm sorry if I startled you… Were you looking for me?"

"Um… No, I came to take something to eat." He said with a smile.

"But I already sent you your breakfast." Topanga said with a frown.

"Yeah… I already ate it… It was very delicious by the way." He said with another smile. "But I got hungry again."

"What can I make for you then?" She said with a bright smile and just by looking at her, Lucas could see where Riley got her bright smile from.

"I won't say no to cheese omelets." He said after a moment of thinking.

"Ah… I made some for my daughter too… She also loves cheese omelets very, very much." Lucas could see himself loving cheese omelets even more now.

"Really? You have a daughter?" Lucas asked, taking the opportunity to ask about her.

"You didn't meet Riley? I thought she'd already met you since she met Mr. and Mrs. Friar." Topanga answered.

"No, I didn't meet her… I wonder if she's here then…"

"No… She already left a while ago."

"When is she coming back?" He asked excitedly with a smile and Topanga smile was instantly wiped away as she looked at him curiously. "I mean… I wanted to say that we could meet when she comes back." Topanga just kept looking at him, somewhat glaring now. "Anyways, I'll be in the backyard so just send the omelets there."

"Okay… I'll send it right away, Mr. Lucas." She said, putting her smile back on before it turned into a scowl when he left.

"Good morning, Mum." Lucas said, joining his mother on the now clear table.

"Good morning, Lucas." His mother replied before sighing. "Why didn't you come join us on breakfast, son? Don't you know that your father gives a great importance to things like that? You got him mad when it's barely halfway through morning."

Lucas rolled his eyes with a sigh, "If only you'd give me peace, Mum… My room is right there… I wasn't that far away from you… what does he want from me?"

"He doesn't want much, Lucas. For him, it's enough if you just care about work matters a bit. I'm telling you this for your own good… If you take on work from tomorrow or the day after, you'll face a lot of obstacles… It'll be hard for you…. I mean look at Farkle. He's helping his father at the company and is always beside him at all times…. How good must that feel to Minkus? Your dad wants that too, Luke."

"Alright, Mum, alright… I'll pass by today." Lucas said and just then, Elona came with a tray and put it in front of Lucas. It had his omelets along with freshly made mango juice, his favorite along with orange juice.

"Didn't you have breakfast?"

"I got hungry again." He said with a sheepish smile.

"What is this?" Cathy asked Elona as she laid a small plate in front of her.

"Your in-between meals snack… Mrs. Topanga sent it for you."

"Ah… Topanga is really amazing!" Cathy said happily. "How did she know that my stomach is hungry?" It was now ten in the morning so it's been two hours since breakfast. "Thank her for me please." Elona nodded and left. Cathy looked at the plate in front of her, noting the different types of nuts in it. Almonds, cashews, walnuts and peanuts. "I think I'm going to drop by the office in a bit…. By the company that is. You too get ready to come with me."

"So I'm going to the company for sure… I get it." Lucas said with a tight smile.

"Honey, can I have an olive from your plate?" She said pointing at them and he nodded so reached into his plate and took one. "Do they contain five calories or ten?"

* * *

Caitlyn was now sitting on the couch in their living room, still staring at her phone like she's been doing for the past two hours.

"I couldn't write a single text message and it's been a couple of hours." She whined to herself, deleting yet another text that she typed but ended up not liking it. She concentrated for a couple of minutes. "That seems good." She said with a smile before hitting send.

Riley was waiting for Maya at the park they always go to when she received a text message from Caitlyn. A somewhat long one.

 **-First of all, I'm very sorry about last night. It's possible that what I did seemed childish to you but I took that road because I genuinely wanted you to make up with my brother… But I ruined everything. I hope you're not mad at me until now… Are we still friends? –Caitlynx**

Riley read the message with a smile on her face before she started typing on her phone and then pressed send when she was done. Caitlyn excitedly opened the message when she heard her phone ding.

 **-I know that you had good intentions… Of course we're still friends. –Rileyxox**

Caitlyn breathed a big happy sigh of relief. "I don't love this girl for no reason! How understanding! Ah such a sweetheart!" Caitlyn said to herself before she started typing again.

 **-Then I can call you without a problem to talk to you. -Caitlynx**

Riley read with a giggle.

 **-Of course. We can definitely talk as long as you don't do surprises from that kind. –Rileyxox**

"She's right… But that means that I won't make any plans to get her and my brother to make up." Caitlyn said to herself.

 **-That won't happen again. I promise. -Caitlynx**

"I hope so, Caitlyn." Riley said before locking her phone and putting it into the inside pocket of her denim vest. She spotted Maya coming from a distance and when Maya spotted her, she smiled and waved at her.

"I didn't make you wait for long, did I?" Maya said as her and Riley hugged.

"Nope, I also just arrived." Riley said as her and Maya sat back down.

"Hurry up and spill!" They both said excitedly at the same time.

"You tell me first." Riley said with a grin.

"No, _you_ tell me first because you said that you have all the shocking stuff." Maya said.

"Alright, well…" Riley started telling her everything that had happened the night before.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Hey, dad." Farkle said as he made his way into his father's office.

"Hey, son." Minkus said with a smile as Farkle sat down on one of the two chairs by his desk.

"There's something that I want to talk to you about… Are you free to talk?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Well, a friend of mine… Actually, two friend of mine need a job."

"Ohh… It's what you wanted to talk to me about before, isn't it?" Farkle nodded. "Alright, what kind of work do they want? What did they do before?"

"To put it simply, they're two very intelligent girls."

Minkus sat back in his chair and chuckled, "Two girls?"

"It's not what you think, Dad." Farkle said with a chuckle. "Really… They just need a job and you could say that I basically owe them to at least help them with that."

"Okay, I got it… What did they work before? We'll look for a job for them according to that."

"They worked as waitresses… What if we get them a job in one of our hotels here in LA?"

"Not in the hotels…" Minkus trailed off as he thought about it. "You know that we have a restaurant in our sports club… What if they work as waitresses there?"

"That seems great."

"Alright then… Go ahead and talk to the club's manager according to that."

"Alright dad, thank you… I'll leave now." Farkle said and got up.

Minkus kept looking at his back as he walked towards the door, deciding whether to tell him or not. "Farkle…" he trailed off as he stood up from his chair. "I also have something that I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Farkle asked with a frown.

"Shall we talk over lunch? It's been a while since we had a father and son meal… Let's head to the club together, have lunch and then you talk with the manager."

"Okay." Farkle agreed with a smile and they both left the office together and got out of the company into their own cars.

* * *

"And that's how my night went."

"Wow… You were right, your night was much more shocking and surprising than mine." Maya said shaking her head.

"I've never had a night like that in my entire life."

"Yeah… How many people could something like that happen to anyways?"

"You're right… Very few…. I mean, who else has a catastrophe like mine on top of their heads?"

Maya looked at her before smirking playfully, "But it's a handsome catastrophe…"

"Handsome catastrophe! Who's handsome? Lucas?" Riley asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, isn't he? He's a handsome and tall guy, Riles."

"Camels and Giraffes are also tall, Maya." Riley said making Maya roll her eyes.

"Don't exaggerate, Riles… Tell me something bad that you saw in the guy." Riley gave her a pointed look. "Alright, you got fired from your job a couple of times because of him." Another pointed look. "You almost drowned because of him too, alright too... You were taken hostage on a ship in the middle of the ocean as well-"

"But don't forget the car that crashed into the tree!" Riley said while pointing a finger at Maya. "Or the bees that went after us… And then lastly, his dog goes after me and sends me to the floor." Riley said all the while counting on her fingers. "There is nothing that I didn't go through because of that guy."

"Yeah… You did go through a lot." Maya said with a grimace on her face before sighing. "But things seem even worst when you state them like that… If not then just admit it… He added excitement to your life."

"My life is hard enough anyways, Maya… I don't need any more of that excitement in my life." She said before giving Maya a suspicious look. "Besides, you're saying that Lucas is handsome and such things… What's happening? What changed your opinion?"

"Oh no definitely not what you think!" Maya exclaimed. "It's just… You've been spending more and more time with him so I was… testing you, you could say… I thought that maybe… you know…"

"Testing me?"

"Think about it and you'll get what I meant, Riles."

"You were trying to get me to talk." She said as she pointed another finger at her and Maya nodded. "But you're wrong, Maya…. Besides, you're the one that went through exciting things last night…. No, pardon me… Josh is the one that actually went through it." They both giggled at that. "How scared did he get when he saw your brother?"

"Oh don't ask…. I won't be surprised if the guy never calls me ever again." Maya said with a giggle.

"Who? Josh will never call you again? Peaches, he adores you! He won't be able to not call you even if he wants to."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Riley said with a grin. "I'm very happy that you guys made up… It's a good thing that I gave him your address." Riley said proudly. "I made to lovebirds make up."

"I got mad at you at first but you're right, it's a good thing that you gave it to him."

"When I think about it like that… I understand Caitlyn's actions more…. I got upset but she didn't have any bad intentions either."

"Yeah… She just wanted you guys back together… She prepared everything so romantically."

"Yeah…. She texted me before you came… Said that she was sorry and asked me if we're still friend or not and if we can still meet and talk or not." Riley said.

"The girl is Farkle's sister… It's a huge advantage for you… You'll see that because of Caitlyn, something will happen between you and Farkle without a doubt"

"I really like your imagination, Maya..."

"And I really like how logical you are but sometimes you'll want things from your heart and you'll have to put logic aside for a bit…. You have to dream and go after your dreams and attract what your heart wants towards you."

"You're right… From now on I'll change, I'll start going after what my heart wants and attract towards me."

"That's the spirit… Dreams are reality waiting to come true, Pumpkin… I mean look at me… I got the guy to leave Miami and come all the way here." They both laughed then Riley's phone started ringing.

She snatched the ringing phone and when she saw the caller ID she froze. "Maya!" She exclaimed and turned the screen towards her friend. "What do I do? We were just talking about what my heart wants…. I don't know what to do… What do I do? Help me, Maya!"

"Calm down, Riley! Come on answer him!"

"Hello?" She said calmly, as if she wasn't just freaking out.

"Hey, Riley. It's Farkle… I have some good news for you."

"Really?" Riley said with a smile. "What is it?"

"I have a job ready for you and Maya."

"What? Our jobs are ready?" She exclaimed happily.

"Yeah… At the restaurant of a sports club that we own." He said, keeping his eyes on the road. His father's driver had already went to Lucas' house with Lucas' car then took Farkle's car back to the company. "You should stop by today so that I could introduce you to the manager, if you're free."

"A sports club that you own? Does Lucas go there too?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"Don't you dare refuse the job! I'll kill you!" Maya exclaimed in a whisper.

"No… Lucas doesn't stop by that much… Don't worry." He reassured her.

"Okay… I'm with Maya right now anyways so we can go now."

"Alright, I'm heading there already… I'll text you the address."

"Okay, bye." Riley said and hanged up. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" She exclaimed along with Maya.

"I can't believe this! It's like a dream!" She said happily.

"But I told you so, didn't I?" Maya said with a grin. "And it's just the beginning."

"Let's not get our hopes high though… He's only helping us because of what happened in Miami."

"What happened to the optimistic Riley from a few moments ago? Have faith, Riley… Anything could happen."

Riley sighed then her phone dinged with the address. "He sent it!"

"Alright, let's go." Maya said with a smile and they both got up. "Where are we going? To their sports club? Hopefully it will go well!"

"He'll meet us there."

"He giving this so much care… He must have some sort of feelings towards you!"

"I don't see it that way."

"He's a guy, Riles… Of course he won't let you see it that fast… If he didn't have feelings for you then he wouldn't be coming with us… He would've said 'I talked to the manager, go see him', right?"

"Really?

"Yes!" Riley grinned and they both hopped into a taxi and gave him the address.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Farkle and Minkus got out of their cars where the clubs drivers took them to the parking. The security guy greeted them as they walked through the gate.

"Is Mr. Parker here?" Farkle asked the security guy.

"He is, sir."

"Alright thank you." Farkle said with a smile.

Right when they walked in through the gate, they found him standing with a few employees. "Ah, Mr. Parker… We were coming to your office." Minkus said.

"How can I help you, Mr. Minkus?"

"Farkle has two friends that are looking for a job… They worked as waitresses before and I thought that they could start working in our restaurant."

"Of course, Mr. Minkus."

"That is if you're in need." Farkle added.

"We're always in need of good employees." Parker said with a smile.

Farkle smiled and nodded, "They'll come meet you today."

"Alright." Parker said with a nod. They excused themselves and headed towards the restaurant where a waiter went to them after they'd sat down.

"What can I get you?"

"Um… I'd like a cheese pizza with chicken salad and Pepsi, please… What about you, dad?" Farkle asked looking at his father.

"I'll have something light… A green salad is fine." He said and the waiter nodded before leaving them.

"Dad, I'm so curious about what you want to talk to me about… I mean what is it about?"

"It's about my private life." Minkus said after a few moments of silence. Farkle frowned in confusion. "There is a woman in my life that I'm in a relationship with." Farkle looked down at his plate with a smile. "What is it? Did you already know?"

"I guessed it." He said looking back at his father. Minkus kept looking at his son. "Who is she then?"

Minkus took a deep breath before talking, "Kayli's mother… Ella."

Farkle grinned and shook his head, "That did surprise me."

"We've been together for a while and our relationship is taking a serious turn… You know that your opinion and your approval are very important to me."

"But dad… You don't need to have our approval for something like that… In the end, it's your own happiness and your own life… I'm positive that you'll make the right decision." Farkle said with a smile.

Minkus breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair. "I'm so glad that you think of it that way… I hope Caitlyn sees it that way too."

"I don't think so… I mean you know how jealous she is over you."

"I know." Minkus said with a nod. "And that's what I'm fearing… That's why I didn't get with anyone until I started seeing Ella anyways…. But Caitlyn is not a kid anymore."

"You're right… She needs to accept it…. I promise I'll do everything I can to help you."

"Thank you, son." Minkus said with a smile.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Honey, did you decide what you gonna do? Are you gonna meet Lucas?" Ella asked Kayli once they'd landed and were waiting for their bags. It was almost two in the afternoon now.

"No, mom… He's going to the company today… He'll call me when he's done with work. We'll probably have dinner together so by then, I'll go to the hairdresser, go shopping and meet Lauren." Kayli said with a smile that turned into a playful smirk. "I don't want to be a problem for you any longer."

"Kayli… What are you saying?" Ella asked in panic.

"I'm joking." She said with a giggle.

"Kayli please don't say things like that again for god's sake… I get so nervous." Ella whined making Kayli laugh. "I don't want to do anything that would upset you."

"I'm the one that knows what you went through with my father the most… You also deserve to be happy from now on, Mom…. I genuinely hope that Uncle Minkus give you the happiness that you deserve." Kayli said sincerely.

"I hope so too… I told Minkus that we'll have lunch together… Do you want to join us?"

"Mmmm… No… We'll be here from now on anyways… I'll join you another time." Kayli didn't want to let her mother know this, but she still wasn't completely comfortable with the fact that she's dating Minkus. At the moment, she was just happy that her mother is happier than she's been in a long time.

"Alright…. Minkus will be really surprised when I tell him that I told you about our relationship… Let me call him." Ella said as they got into a taxi. She took her phone out of her handbag and dialed his number.

"Hey, did you arrive, honey?" Minkus said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, love… We're in the taxi right now." Ella answered him with a smile as well.

"What's your plans for today then?"

"Kayli is gonna meet a friend of hers."

"I'm at the sports club with Farkle." Minkus said while looking at Farkle.

"Really? When are you gonna be free then?"

"When am I gonna be free?" Farkle gave him a reassuring nod and a smile. "I'm free right now…. Do you want me to pick you up or are we gonna meet at the restaurant?"

"Let's just meet there."

"Alright, honey… See you then." He said with a grin before hanging up and Farkle gave him a look with a knowing grin. "It's a plan that was mad from earlier…" He reasoned.

"No problem… We're already done eating anyways." Farkle said. "I'm going to meet my friends soon anyway." Farkle said before chuckling.

"Why are you laughing?" Minkus said with a smile of his own.

"Now I understand why you just had salad." He said with a wink. "You're having the main meal with someone else."

Minkus chuckled nervously, "No, it's not like that… I mean… uh…"

"I'm kidding, dad." Farkle said through his chuckles.

"I wonder if being in a relationship at this age really suits me."

"I said I was kidding, dad." Farkle pressed.

"Okay, okay." Minkus said and they both laughed.

Meanwhile, Riley and Maya made their way into the sports club and took a moment to admire it from their place.

"Girl, how rich are they? The hotel before and now this place? Who knows what their houses are like…" Maya said.

"Who knows?" Riley said somewhat quietly. If only she knew that she was living in one of their houses. "Maya… Please stop making me imagine a life with Farkle from now on… You see the huge gap between us, don't you? I mean he's super rich… and I don't even have a house."

"What does have to do with anything, pumpkin? You should dream big so that your dream comes true…. Actually it would've been good if I'd taken my own advice… as you know, my man is currently jobless." Maya said with a sigh.

"He'll find a job and he'll earn money soon, Peaches… He's a very kindhearted, ambitious guy."

"He is, isn't he?" Maya said with a dreamy sigh.

"Yeah." Riley said with a smile. "Anyways, let me inform Farkle that we're here."

"Okay." Maya said and continued looking around as Riley called Farkle.

"Hey, Farkle…"

"Hey, are you here, Riley?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, tell the security guy by the gate that I'm waiting for you in the restaurant."

"Okay… Bye." She hanged up and headed towards the guy he told her about. "I'm so freaking nervous, Maya."

"Don't be… Everything will go well and you'll see days where he calls you baby, honey and wifey." Maya said making Riley blush.

"Excuse me… We came to see Mr. Farkle… Riley and Maya… He said that he's waiting for us at the restaurant." Riley said to the guy.

"Alright, follow me please." He led them to the restaurant.

"Are those two your friends?" Minkus asked as he spotted them entering. Farkle looked behind him at the door and smiled.

"Yeah…"

"They look like nice girls… Especially the brunette… She looks like a very nice girl." Farkle's smile seemed to widen.

"Yeah, she's very nice." He agreed before standing up as they reached their table. "Hello."

"Hello…" Riley said politely.

"Dad, these are my friends that I told you about…" Farkle introduced. "This is Riley…" He said looking at her before looking at Maya "And Maya… That's my father, Minkus."

"Hello, pleasure to meet you." Minkus said with a smile while shaking both their hands.

"The pleasure is ours." Riley said with a smile while Maya just nodded and smiled.

"Alright… I'm leaving, Farkle." Minkus said and Farkle nodded. "Bye, girls." Both girls smiled and he left.

"How about we have something to drink first?" Farkle asked with a smile.

"Thank you but let's not take too much of your time." Riley refused politely.

"Alright… We'll do that after we take care of your jobs." She nodded and they started heading towards the door, Maya staying a few steps behind. "Riley…" Farkle started while they were walking. "I'm sorry about what Caitlyn did..."

"It's fine." Riley said with a small smile.

"She loves interfering with my private life a lot… you can be sure that she won't put you in a hard situation like this one again."

"Caitlyn didn't have bad intentions though… I already talked to her and we settled things between us." Riley said, looking up at him while they walked.

"Really? I'm glad to hear that…. By the way, I already talked to the employees' manager and he'll give you all the information you need as well as a tour around the club." Farkle said, looking at Maya who was behind him as well. "You can start working tomorrow."

Maya gasped while Riley grinned. "That fast? I mean that's great!" she said with a grin.

"Thank you so much for caring about us even with how busy you are." Riley said.

Farkle just smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll like the new job so I hope everything goes well for you." Both girls nodded with a smile and he walked ahead of them.

"Girl… Did you see how handsome his father is?" Maya said.

"Shut up, Maya." Riley shushed, afraid that he might hear them.

"Mr. Parker, these are the two friends I talked to you about… Riley and Maya." Farkle introduced once they were inside his office.

"Nice to meet you." Parker said with a smile and shook their hands.

"You can come back to the restaurant when you're done with everything… I'll be waiting for you in there." Farkle told them.

"Okay, thank you." Riley said and with that he left.

"Please have a seat." Parker said pointing at the two clear chairs by his desk. "You're familiar with this job, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Maya answered and Riley nodded.

"Great… Let's fill these applications first then." He said and handed them two applications. They smiled at each other and took pens and started filling the applications.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Joseph was in his office when his phone started ringing again. He looked at it before sighing at the caller ID, you guessed it, Jessic. He answered the call just to see what she wants.

"Yes, Jessica?"

"Joseph… Ah, I knew you were gonna answer my call this time to be honest… You're at the company, aren't you?" She hummed before continuing, "It's possible that you couldn't answer my calls because your dear wife was beside you… Am I right?"

"Jessica, that's enough." Joseph said sharply. "Quit calling me… Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I won't stop calling you until you meet me." She said simply.

Joseph stayed quiet for a few moments before sighing, "Alright, let's meet…. Where are you?" He said. "I said alright! I'll come." He said sharply when she kept talking and hanged up.

"Mr. Joseph, are you alright?" His secretary asked when she saw his scowling face.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He said.

"I brought your lunch." She said before putting the tray on his desk.

"Thank you." He said and she left.

Lucas and Cathy made their way out of the elevator and down the hall. Lucas was wearing a grey loose button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows paired with a pair of dark grey jeans, very light grey vans and a white watch.

"Mum, I'm gonna go see Farkle." He said.

"Alright…" Cathy said.

"Hello, Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Cathy." The general secretary of the floor greeted. Since the company had many departments, each floor a department, each floor had a general secretary.

"Hello… Is Farkle available?" Lucas asked.

"No, Mr. Farkle and Mr. Minkus went out a while ago." The secretary said with a smile.

"Do you know where they went then?" Lucas asked.

"To the sports club, sir."

"Alright, thank you." Lucas said with a smile.

"I'm heading to your father's office, honey. You also hurry and come to his office, okay?" Cathy said, patting his shoulder. Lucas nodded with a smile and watched her leave.

"Ugh… I can't put up with this place at all… My uncle isn't here either… The best thing to do is go to the sports club as well." Lucas said to himself and when he was sure his mother couldn't see him, he turned back around and headed to the elevator.

"Would you like anything else, Mr. Joseph?" His secretary asked as she put a bottle of water in front of him.

"No, thank you." He said while mixing his noodles to get the heat distributed in them. She turned to leave the office. "Actually wait… Can you take this diet food to the kitchen? I don't want it to go to waste here since I'm not gonna eat it."

"Is it the same diet food you had yesterday?"

"Yes."

"It was very delicious, sir." She said with a smile.

"Really? Well I'm glad someone enjoyed it…. It doesn't really go well with my taste in food." Joseph explained.

"I can have it again today if you don't want it." His secretary said and just then Cathy walked into his office.

"Of course you can have it… but please don't let Cathy hear about this." He said with a chuckle.

"What shouldn't I hear, honey?" Cathy said, making her presence known.

"Oh… Hey, honey!" He said with a nervous grin.

"Hello, Mrs. Cathy." His secretary greeted with a smile.

"Hello to you too, Mary." Cathy said with a warm smile as she walked into the office some more.

"Um… I couldn't eat the diet food yesterday because my stomach didn't feel too well…. I gave it to Mary to have for lunch and I was telling her not to tell you because I didn't want to upset you." Joseph explained nervously.

"The food was really delicious, Mrs. Cathy… I was planning to ask you about what restaurant you dealt with for this?" Mary said.

"Oh, our cook makes it, honey… She's very talented when it comes to cooking and she's very good with diet stuff." Cathy said with a smile.

"I was planning on ordering food for myself as well, that's why I asked you." Mary explained. "Some of my friends here get meals like this daily but yours is very delicious."

"I will ask her to make you meals too, honey."

"Really? I don't want to be bothersome."

"No, its fine… Joseph gives you his meal since I can't see what he eats here but… I can get you your own."

"Oh don't say that, Cathy." Joseph said. "That only happened once… Alright, I'll eat it now." He took the lunch box from Mary's hand. "Thank you."

Mary started gathering the dishes back into the tray. It had noodles, steak, salad, and bread. "Take the bread also, honey…. And the salt too… Just leave the water." Cathy said and Mary nodded before leaving with the tray.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Do you plan on working here only for the summer vacation?" Parker asked after they'd finished all the papers needed.

"I'm starting college this upcoming year so for now it's only for the summer." Riley said and Parker nodded before looking at Maya.

"I have to work so for me it would be better if it's a permanent job." Maya said with a small smile.

"Alright… We'll have you start working at the restaurant and then later, you can change departments… Of course we'll take in consideration what you want." Parker said with a smile. He looked like he was in his late twenties. He had bright blue eyes and light brown hair and a very fit body without it being too much. He was handsome, no denying. "Oh, this is Mr. Marcus, the one in charge of the restaurant." Parker introduced as an equally fit and handsome man made his way into the office. Both girls stood up to greet who'd be their direct manager from now on. "This is Riley and Maya… The two friends that will work with us."

"Nice to meet you." Marcus said with a smile while shaking their hands.

"Marcus… Why don't you take them on a tour around the club to get them familiar with the place?" Parker asked.

"Of course… Let's go." Marcus said and they followed him out after thanking parker.

* * *

"We bought some really beautiful stuff, didn't we?" Caitlyn said excitedly as she drove her car.

"Yeah… Your dress is amazing, girl!" Sofia gushed with a smile. "And your shoes too! It wasn't a very good and productive vacation in Miami but your birthday party is another big chance for you… I'm feeling very optimistic this time."

"We were with my brother all the time in Miami so we couldn't have much time just the two of us… What was I supposed to do?" Caitlyn said.

"I want to say that he has feelings for you but he couldn't confront of you because of your brother."

"I don't think so… Actually, he did care about me and look after me a lot on that trip… like a sister." Caitlyn said with a sigh.

"Maybe he was afraid to show you his feelings… I mean how could he confront you? Would he put his relationship with his best friend for years in risk for that? Also, what if he was rejected? I don't think he's brave enough to do this given everything around you two and also the fact that he's about four years older than you."

"Is that possible, Sofia?" Caitlyn asked with a big smile.

"Of course… Trust me, I've seen the way he looks at you several times." Sofia said with a nod of her head. "I think you should tell him how you feel before it's too late… I mean what will you lose? Just think about what you'll gain."

"You're right! I'll do it when we arrive at the Café." Caitlyn said excitedly.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Here you go, Ma'am." The waitress said when they reached Minkus' table.

"Thank you." Ella said with a smile.

"Hey, baby." Minkus greeted her with a peck on the lips before stepping back and observing her look. "Your hair looks very nice!" Her hair was brown before but she's died it black before coming to LA. It complemented her blue eyes very well.

"Really? You like it?" She said with a big smile. He pulled her chair out for her like the gentle man he is and she sat down. "I'm glad you like it… Thank you."

"I can't keep this in… Having you come here with a taxi is something that bothered me very much." Minkus said. "I couldn't come because of Kayli but next time I'll either come myself or I'll send my driver."

"Don't worry… you can come pick us up whenever you want from now on." Ella said with a grin and Minkus frowned at her in confusion. "I have really good news for you…"

"What is it?"

"I told Kayli about us."

"Really?!" Minkus asked with a grin.

"Yeah." She said with a smile of her own. "She knows everything now."

"What was her reaction then?" Minkus asked curiously.

"She was a bit surprised at first but then she congratulated me and was very happy."

"I'm so glad… Kayli's acceptance about this relationship is something very important to me… You know that I really care about Kayli."

"I know that, love… Besides, thank you so much for all your patience and understanding that you showed all that time." He smiled at her and nodded.

"I also told Farkle…" He said with a grin.

"You did? Really?" She asked with a smile.

"I couldn't hold it inside any longer." He said with a chuckle.

"We got the feeling of how important it is to tell our children at the same time." She said with a giggle. "How did Farkle take the news then?"

"Very well… He was very understanding… If only I could tell Caitlyn too and know that she'll understand." He said with sigh.

"Love… I don't think you should rush telling her."

"She'll be more upset with me because I kept this from her this long and she's the only one that doesn't know… I don't want to shake her trust in me." Minkus said with a shake of his head.

"You know what's best." She said with a small smile while taking his hand in hers. He held her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Would you like to order now?" The waitress said with two menus in hand.

"Definitely." Ella said and the waitress handed them the menus.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Joseph had finished eating a while ago and Cathy was sitting on a chair by his desk reading through a newspaper. Joseph kept looking at his watch every five seconds while sipping on his coffee.

Cathy gasped as she read something. "Oh! A woman killed her husband because he cheated on her! Oh god! Oh… He cheated on her with a girl that is half his age!"

"He played with the devil." Joseph said simply.

"You won't play with the devil, right honey?" She said with narrowed eyes.

"Why are you even thinking about things like that, Cathy? You know how much I love you, don't you?" Joseph asked.

"I know, honey… But you never know what might happen." She said and Joseph sighed before looking at his watch again. "Are you waiting for someone, honey? Or do you have a meeting?"

"No… I have to go somewhere though…. I have to go check on the place where the new hotel is being built." He said.

"Well, don't let me hold you back then…. Wait, let's call Lucas so that he could come with you too." She said and took her phone out of her bag.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah… Let him help you a bit."

"Lucas is here?"

"Yeah… We came together to the company." She said with a nod. "Where did he disappear though?"

"He doesn't need to come with me."

"Why not? I think he should come and learn anything about work." She said and called him. "Hey, Lucas… Where are you?"

"I just arrived at the sports club, mum." Lucas said as he closed his car door and locked it. "Farkle and my uncle are here so I came to see them."

"What are you doing at the club, Lucas?" She asked in frustration and Joseph just scoffed before taking a sip of his coffee. "Oh, I understand… You're helping Farkle with some work there…. Alright, bye." She said before hanging up. "He's helping with some work at the club."

"Well… He can work there if he's interested about the place that much." Joseph said with a grin.

"There? Work at the sports club?!" Cathy asked with s scowl.

"Yeah." He said with a grin and she sighed. Joseph looked at his watch before standing up. "I have to leave now so we'll discuss that more tonight, okay?"

"Okay, honey." She said with a smile as he put his blazer back on and left the office. "Off Lucas… are you trying to kill me? All the punishments that are given too you aren't enough. You deserve more punishments." She exclaimed to herself.

* * *

Back at the club, Marcus was showing Riley and Maya around the club and Lucas was heading to the restaurant where Farkle was. Marcus showed them the gym, the tennis tracks, the basketball tracks, the football tracks, the running tracks and the little kids' area that had swings and slides and that kind of stuff. He explained to them everything briefly as they walked.

Farkle was at the restaurant having a cup of coffee when his phone dinged.

- **Farkle, please… We have to meet. I'm not in a good condition at all. –Miley.**

Farkle sighed and put his phone back down before rubbing his eyes tiredly. Lucas walked into the restaurant. "Cousin, how are you?" He said, making Farkle look up. He joined him on the table.

"Lucas! What's wrong? Did something happen? Why are you here?"

"What could possibly happen? Can't I come here?" Lucas said with a shrug and a smile as he looked around.

"I don't know… I just got surprised when I saw you so suddenly that's all." Farkle explained.

"I went to the company with my mum first and then came here when I knew that you're here." Farkle nodded and looked at his cup of coffee tiredly. "Are you okay? You look stressed."

"Oh, it's nothing." Farkle said with a shake of his head then his phone started vibrating on the table.

"The reason is pretty clear now." Lucas said as he looked at the caller ID that read 'Miley' on it. "She still won't stop calling you?"

"Yeah." Farkle said with a sigh. "Every time she calls, I tell her to not call me again but she just won't listen."

"I think she won't stop going after you until she sees you, face to face." Lucas said with another shrug. "It's like a scratch that won't go away and the only solution is to see you…. If I were you, I would've met her, man… I would even spend a few days with her and leave her when she's least expecting it."

"What else?" Farkle said sarcastically.

"But of course you can't do something like that since you're like… the perfect dude. You should give up being this nice, Farkle… Play a little, take advantage of." Lucas said and Farkle just sighed out of frustration. "Girls don't deserve your kindness… Haven't you learnt that by now?"

"Look… That's the way I am, Lucas… I can't change myself…. Besides, I'm happy with being too nice or too kind… I'm happy with who I am and the way I am, man." Farkle said with a scowl.

"Whatever you say, cousin." Just then his phone started ringing again. "You should answer that and see what she wants… or else she won't stop calling you until night time…. It's clear that she's put you in her head… She'll see you no matter how many times she has to call or be rejected."

Farkle sighed and answered the phone, "Yes, Miley?" he said sharply.

"Are you at the company?" She asked from the backseat of a taxi.

"No, Miley… I'm at the sports club. Why are you asking?"

"I'm coming to see you."

"I can't, I don't have time."

"Please Farkle… I'm very near anyways…. I'll be there in a little bit… I definitely have to see even if it's for five minutes… I won't bother you after that."

He sighed and looked at Lucas. "Let her come." Lucas said with a nod as if to say 'trust me'.

"Okay, but only for five minutes." He said before hanging up. "She's coming."

"I told she won't back down easily…. I wish you luck, cousin… Don't forget what I told you and think about it… I'm gonna be around here when you're done." Lucas said before getting up and leaving the restaurant.

"You can reject me all you want on the phone… We'll see what happens when you see me… I'm sure you're still deeply in love with me." Miley said with a smirk as she fixed her makeup through her compact mirror.

* * *

"And finally, that's our swimming pool." Marcus said as they reached the big, Olympic style pool. "What do you think? Did you like our club?"

"Yes, very much." Both girls said with smiles on their face.

"One final thing, this place was mainly built for the Friar's family and relatives and no one else can enter this club if they don't have a membership. So you have to be very careful and very polite while dealing with our customers."

"Of course we'll be very careful." Maya said and Riley nodded.

"Alright then I'll see you again tomorrow at eight in the morning sharp, okay?"

"Okay… Thank you." Riley said and he shook their hands before leaving.

Miley walked into the restaurant and made her way to Farkle's table. "Hey, Farkle."

"Hey… What is the thing that is so important that makes you want to see me?" He said with a blank expression on his face.

Miley looked around at the crowded restaurant, "Are we gonna talk here?"

"Just say what you want to say, Miley."

"I will but can we just go to a place that is less crowded and where we could be… more alone? Please, Farkle."

Farkle sighed before getting up and heading outside with her following him. They headed up the stairs to the second floor of the restaurant that was also the roof so it was an open area and sat down.

"Farkle… I can't live without you." Miley said, using her acting skills to make it seem as if she's about to cry. She reached over the table a grasped both his hands. "I made a very dump mistake by leaving you… I don't even know why I did… Maybe I got scared but the time I've spent without you has really showed me what's really important… I'm very devastated that I made you sad… Please… Please give me a chance to fix everything… Let's go back to the way we were before."

Farkle stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head and pulling his hands away. "Miley… We can _never_ go back to the way we were before." He said with sighing and putting the blank expression back on his face. "If you're down with what you had to say, then excuse me I have things to do." He said and got up.

She hurriedly got up to and grabbed his arm, "No, I'm not done." She pulled him towards her and kissed him, without giving him a chance to say anything. He couldn't push her away or even kiss her back so he just stood in his place with his eyes closed, motionless.

Right then, Riley and Maya were walking up the stairs to the roof while smiling about a joke that Maya had said. Riley turned around and the smile was instantly wiped away from the sight she saw. She couldn't see that he wasn't kissing her back either. Farkle raised a hand up to push her away but ended up putting it back down.

Maya followed Riley's eyes when she saw the tears in them and a hand shot up to her mouth in surprise. Riley was sniffing and around her eyebrows turned red, which only meant that her tears were close to rolling down her face.

"Come on, let's leave." Maya said hurriedly and pulled her away from the scene.

Right when they left, Farkle pushed Miley away from him and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "What the hell are you doing in front of everyone, Miley?!" He said angrily.

"I couldn't control myself for a minute… I don't know how that happened either." Again her acting skills came in handy as she pretended to be in a daze from the kiss.

Farkle gritted his teeth as he looked around them and said through gritted teeth, "Miley… Will you leave? Please."

She took hold of both his hands and looked up at him fake-lovingly. "We're still deeply in love with each other until now… You also know that even if you don't want to accept it." Farkle pulled his hands away aggressively but it didn't faze her. "I won't give up easily… I'll do everything I can to get you to forgive me." With that, she took her bag and left.

Farkle sat back down in his chair and hit the table in frustration.

Downstairs, Riley and Maya were heading out towards the gate, with tears rolling down Riley's cheeks while she was looking at the ground. Because she was looking down, she ended up going right into Lucas' chest. She stepped back and looked up at him in surprise while he looked at her with his eyebrows frowned in confusion as to why she's here and why her eyes were so red.

"Riley! What are you doing here?" Lucas asked in disbelief and Riley just looked at Maya who looked at her sympathetically. Lucas finally noticed the tear strains and then his frown of confusion turned into a frown of genuine concern. "Are you crying? What happened, Riley?

Riley sniffed and looked up at him. "None of your business!" she snapped with a few tears running down her face before running past him and out of the gate, with Maya running behind her.

"Why did she get mad at me now? Besides what is she doing here?" He asked himself. "She's definitely stalking me." He said with a smirk before heading back inside towards Farkle.

* * *

 **Alright that was by far the longest chapter I've ever written for this story! And it only took me two nights when usually a 10K chapter takes me 3-4 nights.**

 **I know I said that someone will find out about Riley living in Lucas' house in this chapter but while writing, the chapter got way longer than I wanted it to be. If I'd kept writing until that person found out then it would've been at least 20K and that's TOO much for a single chapter.**

 **Also, I wanted to ask you something before next chapter... I need a song suggestion. A song that if Lucas listens to he'll be reminded of Riley. So basically a song that talks about Love, beauty, affection... a Romantic song, to simply put it. I can't find one so please leave your suggestions in the reviews and if you can then please suggest a few ones and I'll listen to them and choose what I think suits the scene I have in mind.**

 **Anyways, time to talk about the show! Did you guys watch GMTrue Maya? It wasn't my favorite but the concept or as I like to call it, the message, in it is probably one of my favorite. A person is very lucky if he has a friend that can be with him even when they're not physically there. I really loved the scene when Riley was like "Maya, I wasn't even with you!" And Maya said simply, "You were" before leaving the apartment.**

 **Also, instagram has been filled with Ski lodge spoilers which I still don't know if I appreciate or hate. I kind of appreciate it because the three spoilers that were released were not enough at all. They kept me wanting more and more is what I got lol... I already knew the general plot of the episode a while ago but now I feel like I have nothing left to watch when the episode comes out. If you have instagram, you'll know what I mean. I don't want to spoil things in case you don't know but on instagram, the Rucas movie/imagination as well as the Lucaya one were posted as well as a few other scenes.**

 **Anyways, back to our story, the one we control! I'm so sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes but I'm currently a little sick so I'm too tired to re-read the chapter.**

 **I got some good dress suggestions for the birthday party but I have one that I liked the most along with the one that I already had in mind and if I still can't choose by the chapter of the party then I'll get you guys' opinion. I'm still open for suggestions for Riley's dress but now I also need suggestions for a dress for Caitlyn since I have like 5 saved on my computer and I can't choose lol. I also prefer it more when I choose celebrities look since I suck at describing and that way you could just google it but the ones I have are just dresses online.**

 **This AN is getting too long so... Who do you think is Jessica? You'll probably find out next chapter when Joseph meets her but who do you think it is?**

 **Do you think Farkle will get back to Miley? or Riley? Will Riley date him or not?**

 **Guys, I just had this thought... What if Rowan, Sabrina, Peyton or Corey go on here and read the show's Fanfictions? What if one of them is reading mine right now? that would be so crazy! Probably would never happen though lol.**

 **Alright, don't forget to leave me song and dresses suggestions and tell me what you thought off this super long chapter and of course, what you'd like to see next.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	21. Chapter 21: I hate you, don't leave me

"Farkle? What's wrong?" Lucas asked with a frown of confusion once he reached Farkle's table. Farkle just sighed with a scowl on his face while Lucas sat down. "I'm guessing it didn't go well…"

"You were right… It doesn't look like she'll stop going after me easily." Lucas nodded as if to say 'I told you so' but other than that, stayed silent. "I tell her that we can't be together and then she goes and sticks her lips to mine."

"Oh wow! That's so fierce! What kind of man are you, cousin?" Lucas said with a big smirk.

"Don't make fun of this, Lucas." Farkle said with a shake of his head.

Lucas looked around them at the few occupied tables, "Did she kiss you in front of everyone?"

"Yeah." Farkle said with a nod.

"Oh la la!" Lucas said with a smirk and leaned back in his chair.

"Let's go." Farkle said and stood up.

"Why? Why don't we have something to eat? These things make me feel hungry." Lucas said in complete seriousness.

Farkle finally cracked a smile and chuckled. "Don't act like that, man… We'll eat somewhere else."

Lucas smiled and stood up from his chair. He wrapped an arm around Farkle's shoulders and they left the restaurant with smiles on their faces.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Alright, what's the plan?" Sofia asked as she took her seatbelt off after Caitlyn parked in front of the café/restaurant.

"I'll talk to him about my birthday first… I'll ask him how we can do it and such… I'll make this conversation as long as I can… My love!" She ended with a dreamy smile making Sofia giggle. "Anyways, after that… I'll tell him about my feelings the first chance I get." She said excitedly before turning to her rearview mirror to fix her straight hair.

"Are you sure, Cait? Wasn't that a bit too much?"

"Sofia!" Caitlyn whined.

"I mean… I wanted to say… Why don't you have that conversation after your birthday?"

"I waited for so long, Sof… I don't want to wait any longer… Come on let's go in."

"Alright, I'm praying for you and supporting you… Let's go." Sofia said with a smile before getting out of the car followed by Caitlyn. They sat on a table that is outside the café itself and looked around for Ian. "So, where your man?"

"He has some work outside… He'll come soon." Caitlyn answered with a grin before turning serious. "How would I know? I'm not his girlfriend… If I were his girlfriend, I'd know about his every step and every breath… I'd even put spying cameras everywhere around him so that I know everything that happens to him." Caitlyn said excitedly.

Sofia giggled and shook her head. "I swear that you'd actually do that… You won't even leave this place… I mean we're here every day although you're not a couple. I could imagine how you'll be when you become a couple."

"Yeah… But what else do I do? I miss him so much…. How else will I be able to see him?"

"Trust me, I want you two together even more than you do… I'll do everything that I can to make that happen."

"You're the best!" Caitlyn said with a grin. A waiter came and they order two slices of chocolate cake and some iced coffee. "Why is he? What's taking him too long?" Caitlyn said after they'd finished their slices of cake.

Sofia looked behind her at the street where a guy got of a motorcycle and took his helmet off. "He's here!" She said with a grin.

Caitlyn's head snapped to where Sofia was looking before turning back to her. "Do I look good?" She said, fixing her hair again.

"Yeah." Sofia said with a nod.

"Hello, girls." Ian greeted with a smile.

"Hey…" Caitlyn said with a smile of her own, trying to hide her excitement/happiness.

"How are you? Are you enjoying your time here?"

"We're fine." Caitlyn answered. His phone started ringing and he excused himself to answer it. "What's this now? We were having a nice talk." Caitlyn said to Sofia once he was away.

"He'll come back, babe… Calm down." Sofia said before looking at him. "Cait… I hope he hasn't found a girl…"

"Don't say that, Sofia! Besides, I would've known about it from my brother if something like that happened."

"Yeah… You're right."

"Where are you, Nicole? Okay, you're near… Yeah, take the first left after 100 meters… Alright, bye." Ian said before going back to the girls after taking of his biker jacket and sat down with them.

"Um… My birthday is next week… I wonder if I can celebrate it here, if you don't mind." Caitlyn started with a smile.

"Alright, that's possible." Ian said with a nod.

"I told myself that I don't want it to be crowded… I mean, friends and family only…. I thought it would be better and more fun this way." Ian nodded while looking behind her at the street. "How about we talk about the DJ for the music? I want-"

Ian cut her off by standing up, "Excuse me…" He excused himself and headed towards a girl that had just stepped out of a taxi clad in a pair of blue shorts and a sleeveless brown crop top that had fringes that reached the waistband of her shorts and a pair of dark tan heals. He hugged her with a grin on his face before kissing her cheeks.

"Sofia… What is this now?" Caitlyn asked with tears filling her eyes. "Do you see what I'm seeing too?"

"Caitlyn… Are you okay? She must be his friend or-"

"Shut up, Sofia! Just shut up! You gave me all that hope and I couldn't even finish my sentence and now this is happening! They're not friends, they're definitely more than friends!" Caitlyn snapped at her friend. She looked back at them as he rubbed her pair arms until his hands reached hers and held them as they talked. "No, I can't take this sight… Come on, let's go… All that hope I had… and look what I end up seeing."

They got up and walked past Ian and the girl towards Caitlyn's car. Ian looked at them and opened his mouth to call their names but closed it again and smiled at the girl before wrapping an arm around her shoulders while she wrapped hers around his waist.

* * *

"Joseph… Hello!" Jessica said, standing up from her chair and reaching a hand out for him to shake which he just ignored and sat down. "Are you gonna have something to drink?" She asked after sitting back down. "Coffee? You used to like your coffee with extra sugar, didn't you? I can't believe I still remember."

"What is it that you're going after this time, Jessica?" Joseph spat with a glare. "What do you want from me? 500 thousand? A million?"

Jessica grinned as she looked at him, "Your generosity is bringing tears to my eyes, Joseph!" She said sarcastically. "I can't even buy a house here with the amount of money you just offered."

"How much do you want?"

She hummed for a moment before shaking her head, "I don't want money this time." She said simply.

"What do you want then?"

"I want to take back what I've lost… I'm back and I'll be in LA from now on."

"What are you talking about? What did you lose and thinking about taking it back?"

"There are a few things that you seem to have forgotten, Joseph…. And you're taking me lightly once again."

"Is it even possible for you to be taken lightly?" Joseph said with a smirk. "I know what kind of devil you are very well…. Just be straight forward and tell me what you want then leave us alone."

"I told you… I came to take back what I've lost."

"Take it then, what do you want from me? Tell me."

"I want your help."

"You're funny… You want my help!?" Joseph said with a sarcastic chuckle. "I don't even consider you as a human being that I can help in this world… You're probably just making fun of me… We're not getting anywhere by talking like this… So let me leave you alone with your dreams." He said and stood up.

"You know better, Joseph." She said, stopping him from leaving. "I'm ready to pay for all the mistakes I made but…. Are _you_ ready?" She said with a tight smile and raised eyebrows.

Joseph looked at her before sitting back down and sighing, "What do you want? What help do you want? Tell me."

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

The guy turned the blow-dryer off and comped his fingers through her now straight locks. "Spray?" He said holding the bottle of hairspray up.

"No, thank you." Kayli answered with a shake of her head. Kayli ran her fingers through her silky blonde-ish hair.

"Is there a place that you want me to go over, Miss Kayli?" The guy asked.

"No, It looks very good, thank you." She said and smiled at him through the mirror and he nodded before leaving. "Ah! Be careful!" She winced in pain as the girl that was doing her nails pushed a bit too hard on her cuticles. The girl nodded and apologized.

"Kayli!" Lauren said as she spotted Kayli in the hairdresser, since they'd decided to meet there.

"Hey, Lolo!" She greeted her friend with a smile and Lauren gave a hug.

"We're looking very pretty… Are you meeting Lucas?" Lauren asked with a wink and Kayli nodded with a smile. "How is it between you two? Anything new?"

"Everything is great… What about you? Anything new?"

"Nah… How was Miami?"

"Amazing… the opening ceremony was great too… All eyes were on us of course." Kayli said as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"That's great… How was Farkle's girlfriend? I'm so curious about her!"

"She wasn't at the ceremony… I told you they broke up…. Miley called so that's probably why."

"But actually, the girl is pretty." Lauren said with a smile.

"Pretty!" Kayli said sarcastically.

"I mean compared to Miley, she is."

The girl finished her nails and left them alone. "That is true." Kayli said, standing up and fixing her hair one last time.

"You're such a beautiful couple but that girl didn't suit Farkle at all."

"Yeah… It was pretty apparent that they'll break up." Kayli said and right then the TV caught her attention.

"You guys know that Chris is just my friend from the show." Miley said to the reporters. It was filmed on the day when she saw Farkle and Riley with her cast mate in Miami.

"Her friend!" A girl that was doing someone's makeup said with a scoff. "What kind of friend do you hold hands with and have your lips on his all the time?" she said to her customer.

"How do you know?" The customer asked.

"I worked on the set of that show but then I left the job when I couldn't take their yelling." She said and Kayli looked back at Lauren.

"Anyways, I'm done here… Let's leave, baby." She said with a smile and headed towards the desk where you pay. She paid and then they both left the salon.

"Why did Miley call Farkle if she's in a relationship with that guy?" Lauren asked in confusion.

"Didn't you see how the guy left her and ran away when he saw the cameras?" Kayli said with a laugh.

"Maybe they're not together then."

"Didn't you hear what that makeup girl said? I think that the guy left her in Miami so that's why she's going after Farkle now."

"That's what I think too." Lauren said and they both laughed.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"You're out of your mind." Joseph said with a scowl. "What you want is impossible."

"In my opinion, it's possible." She said with a shrug.

"Can I give you a piece of advice?" She hummed and nodded, "Go back to where you came from… I won't be this nice to you next time." With that, he got up and left without noticing Cathy's friend that saw him leaving while she was making her way into the restaurant.

* * *

Riley and Maya got out of the taxi and sat down on a bench in a park near Riley's house. Maya kept looking at Riley who was looking straight ahead with no expression on her face.

"Riley… Are you better now?" Maya asked cautiously.

Riley nodded and put a faint –fake- smile on her face, "I'm okay."

"No, you're not." Maya exclaimed. "How could you possibly be okay? Even I am not okay… I'm as sad as you are… I never expected seeing something like that."

"And what about me? There kiss won't leave my eyesight… It's like all I can see is them kissing…. But you know what the worst thing is? Accepting the job… I'll be forced to see him."

"It's all because of me." Maya said and she looked like she was about to cry.

"Maya… I told you that I can't be with Farkle… I told you that no prince falls in love with Cinderella… It's been a long time since I last believed a fairytale… Please, don't try to make me believe them again."

"You're right in everything you're saying, Riley." Maya said and Riley just went back to looking at nothing in particular when Maya's phone started ringing.

"Answer the phone, Maya." Riley said when the phone kept ringing and Maya just put it on silent.

"No, I don't want to see him right now."

"Don't say that, Maya, please…. I'm okay"

"No, you're not."

"I told you that I am, Maya… Okay, I got really upset because it was something that I wasn't expecting but now, I'm okay… I really am, peaches." Riley said reassuringly. "To be honest, seeing this now, in the beginning, is good… I'll act according to that."

"Wait a minute, we don't even have to go to work…. We could just tell them that we don't want it… We'll find another job."

"What would be the reason then? He cared about us, found us a job, called us, and we accepted it… It's not appropriate if we give it back now, Maya…. In the end, we need that job."

"That's right… I don't think we'll be able to find a better job."

"Then let's close the Farkle subject and not talk about it again, can we? From now on, Farkle is just a person who gave me a job."

"I promise that I won't get your hopes up about Farkle ever again." Maya said in complete seriousness and her phone began ringing again.

"Go ahead, answer him."

Maya sighed and raised the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Maya, where are you? Why weren't you answering you phone? I was so worried!" Josh said right when she picked up. He was sitting in a café that overlooks the beach.

"I told you that I had a job interview."

"Did that job interview take that long?" Josh said in frustration before sighing. "Anyways, how did it go?"

"It went well, we got the job and we'll start tomorrow." Maya informed him.

"That fast? I'm so happy for you!" He said with a grin. "What are the plans for today? Are we gonna meet?"

Maya looked at Riley before sighing, "Yeah… I'm with Riley right now… I'll call you when I leave." They said their goodbyes and hanged up. "Peaches… Come on, come with me too." She said with a small smile.

Riley shook her head with a small smile. "Thank you, Pumpkin… You go ahead and go." Maya looked at her suspiciously. "Look, I'm really okay."

Maya sighed before nodding and with that they both got up and linked hands.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"I don't understand why you're so opposing to the whole Miley thing." Lucas said as he drove his car. They'd decided to take one car then Lucas would drive Farkle back to the club.

"I don't want to try something that was tried before… You know that nothing goes back to the way it was when a person gets broken once." Farkle explained.

"I don't understand these things." Lucas said with a grin. "I'm not as sensitive as you are…. I just look at 'Am I enjoying my time? Am I having fun? Am I happy?'… In my opinion, if you do it the way I do, then you'll never get broken"

"Maybe you're right…. I take everything seriously… I think that was what scared me and made me reject Miley." Farkle said as he looked out of the window.

"We're still young, cousin…. We have a very long and beautiful life ahead of us… No need to waste it being upset…. Besides, being untied to someone is really great." Lucas said, and right then, his phone started ringing and he laughed when he saw the caller idea. "Don't you think men should be afraid of that sixth sense that women have? She's calling me as if she heard what I just said." Farkle chuckled and Lucas took his headphones and put one in his ear to answer the phone. "Hey, babe."

"Hey, love… How are you?" Kayli said as she walked out the parking lot of the mall with several shopping bags with her.

"I'm okay, babe… I was at the sports club and I just left… I'm with Farkle." Lucas informed her, already knowing that she'll ask about where he is and such.

"What is our plan then? Are we having lunch together?"

"We can do that… Shall we eat at Ian's restaurant then?"

"Okay… I'll meet you there."

"Alright, babe… Bye." Lucas said before hanging up. "So… I saw Riley at the club… Do you have any idea why she came?"

"She came for a job interview." Farkle said simply.

"What?! How?!" Lucas exclaimed with wide eyes.

"She'll start working at the restaurant tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me?!" Another exclamation from Lucas.

"No, I'm not… The girl was fired because of us… More specifically, what she did for us… I mean, for you… I believe that we owe her a lot." Farkle explained.

"Yeah but… When Caitlyn knows that she'll work there, she won't leave her alone… And add to that, that I lied to Kayli and I'm very upset about that too."

Farkle chuckled, "Finally it appears like you also feel uncomfortable when you lie." He clapped his hands together with a grin making Lucas chuckle as well. "I congratulate you, man!"

"No, that's not it." Lucas said with a shake of his head and a grin. "It's because the lie will be exposed if Kayli sees Riley."

"Nothing is gonna happen… Kayli doesn't come to the sports club anyways…. But Riley needs that job." They came to a red light so Lucas looked at him as he spoke. "And Caitlyn promised me that she won't interfere with my life again."

"You're suddenly caring about that Riley so much… What happened?" Lucas teased but there was a part of him, that he didn't know about, that was really curious. "Or do you like her?"

"What?! Where did that come from?!" Farkle exclaimed. "Does a person have to feel something towards the other person he's helping?"

"Yes, that's how it is to me."

"Well, I'm not you… The girl and her friend needed a job and I had one for them, that's it." Farkle said in frustration.

"Alright, don't get upset so fast… Calm down." Lucas said with a smirk. "The girl is just like a virus… She's spreading in our lives so quickly." Lucas shook his head with a sigh and continues driving in silence.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Josh was still at the café but with a bouquet of flowers that he got form a florist nearby, waiting for Maya. He was fidgeting in his seating, trying to hide the bouquet so that she doesn't see it when she comes in. He stands up when he spots her with the bouquet behind his back.

"I'm so late, aren't I? The traffic was so bad, I'm so sorry." She said with an apologetic smile when she approached him. "There was probably an accident."

"It's okay… I just arrived as well, anyways." Josh reassured, not wanting her to feel bad.

"You just arrived? What do you mean by that? So if there was no traffic and I wasn't stuck in it and actually came in time… I would've waited here for half an hour?" Maya said with a scowl and crossed her arms over her chest. "I hope you have a good explanation."

"I would never make you wait, Maya… I just… I'll tell you something but please don't get mad at me for lying to you." Josh said.

"You lied? You also lied to me?!" Maya said angrily.

"No! I didn't lie… This isn't considered a lie… I actually… um… I've been here for a while… I didn't want to make you feel bad because you made me wait so that's why I sad that I just arrived."

Maya expression softened, "How considerate of you! I wonder if you're even real!" she said with a big smile.

"Well I don't know… but those are definitely real." He said with a smile and took the flowers from behind his back. She took them from him with a grin and hugged the bouquet to her chest. "Shall we sit?"

"We shall." She nodded and they both sat down with grins on their face. She order a glass of juice and a few minutes later the waiter came back with it. "Thank you."

"So… how did the interview go?" Josh asked excitedly.

"Very well… We got the job." She answered happily.

"I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you… It all happened the way we wanted it to… Me and Riley are gonna work in the same department." She said with a smile.

"Yeah? Where did you get that job from then?"

"Farkle got it for us." Josh's smile turned into a tight line and a frown. "It's at their sports club… They own it so it was easy for him to get us the job. We'll work as waitresses in the restaurant."

"Farkle? Mr. Farkle? The one that I know?"

"Yeah, that's great, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"He took really good care of us… We met him today and starting tomorrow, we'll start working." Maya said, not noticing how forced his smile was.

"Well, I'm really happy for you."

Maya seemed to finally notice his expression, "You were also on my mind today… I wanted to ask for a job for you but I couldn't do it from the first day."

"No… You don't need to do that… Actually I found many jobs today but I just didn't like any of them… That's why I don't have a job." He lied smoothly, not wanting her to feel bad for him.

"Well that's fine then." Right then her phone started ringing and she looked at it nervously. "My brother is calling… I'm sorry but I have to leave, Josh."

"But you just came!" He whined.

"I know that I just came but… You saw my brother didn't you? You must know what kind of person he is by now."

"Yeah… Let's get up, come on." He said and got up followed by Maya.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

The night had just rolled in and Joseph and Cathy were sitting in the balcony of the first floor together, having some tea.

"Ah… I'm not feeling too good, Joseph… Can we get out of the house and have some fresh air even if we just take a drive or walk? We could have a drink too." Cathy said with a frown on her face.

"Of course we can do that if you want, honey."

"Ahh… Ella was supposed to come to the US today… She must be with Minkus if she did come…. Should I call her and see what she's up to?" Cathy said, taking her phone from the table.

"Well you can do that if you want… but don't we need to avoid bothering them?"

"We're not gonna bother them honey… I'm just curious about where they're up too." Joseph sighed and she dialed Ella's number.

"Oh, it's Cathy." Ella said when her phone started ringing. They were still at the restaurant and drinking some coffee. "Hey, Cathy."

"Ella, honey… how are you? Are you in the US?"

"Yeah… I arrived this afternoon and met with Minkus for lunch and we're having our coffee right now." Ella informed her with a smile.

"Oh, you two love birds!" Cathy said with a giggle that Ella returned. "Honey, we got really sick of being in the house and were thinking about going out for some fresh air…. Where are you?"

"We're at the Craft restaurant."

"Oh, really? Joseph and I were planning to go there." Cathy said and Joseph looked at her with wide eyes.

"Really? Well you can still come join us if you want." Ella said while looking at Minkus.

"Okay honey, we'll see you there."

"Alright… We'll be waiting… Bye." Ella said and hanged up. "I know we were about to get up but Cathy really wanted to come so I couldn't tell her not to."

"It's okay, honey… you did well… My sister in law is really curious about you now." He said with a wink and a smile.

"Of course… She always told me that she sees us very suitable for each other and she always said very good things about you…. And she's right." She said with a smirk and a wink on the end.

"Well she couldn't be wrong since she knows the both of us closely, right?" Minkus said with a smile and held her hand in his.

"Probably." She said with a smile and he leaned over the table to peck her lips.

* * *

Topanga was watching an old American film on the TV in the kitchen when Shawn made his way into the kitchen, quietly when he saw her concentration on the movie. He ended up scaring her because when she saw his reflection on the TV, she jumped back in her chair in fear.

"I'm so sorry… When I saw how into the film you were, I didn't want to scare you but I ended up scaring you even more." Shawn said immediately as she stood up from her chair.

"No, I'm sorry… I scared you as well."

"It's fine… Mr. Friar is going to drive the car himself so I ended up being alone here with nothing to do." Shawn explained.

"I was having tea… Let me pour you a glass of tea as well…. I have some cupcakes and biscuits that I made today as well."

"Why would I lie? I could smell them all the way out there and I came to the kitchen for those cupcakes." Shawn said with a chuckle.

"Have a seat then." Topanga said with a smile and he nodded before sitting down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table. Topanga took out a small glass for tea and a plate for the biscuits and cupcakes.

"How unfortunate are the kids of these days? Where is that kind of love nowadays?" Shawn said, pointing at the TV. "It stayed in the old American films only."

"You're right…. The kids these days are very unfortunate." Topanga answered after she'd poured him his tea and served him a few biscuits along with two cupcakes. "Their love lasts a month, sometimes it even lasts for weeks or days… Were our love like that? When we loved, we loved until death." She shook her head sadly and looked down at her tea.

"I also fell in love once… I mean when I was young… But they didn't give her to me… They made her marry someone else…. I got mad and left the city and came here to California… I couldn't get married after that… I just couldn't, no matter who the person was."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Topanga said as she looked at him. "It's very hard for a person to fall in love but don't get to be with whom they love…. Loving someone… losing someone."

"These things are written by God… We can't avoid them if they're written for us… A person wants something so bad but he can't do anything no matter what… I'm so old now."

"Don't say that… You're still young… You'll be happy someday." Topanga said with a small smile.

"I hope so." He answered with a smile as well.

"Um… Excuse me… I'm gonna go check if Riley's back." She said, getting up.

"I'll leave as well."

"No, no… You still haven't had your tea and cupcakes…"

"Alright." Shawn said and sat back down and dug into his cupcakes as Topanga made her way to the penthouse.

Riley was sitting on her bed, still in her clothes from earlier when Topanga made her way into the room.

"Riley? When did you come back, sweetie?" Topanga said with a smile.

"I came back a while ago, Mum." Riley said with a small smile.

"How did your job interview go?" Riley just looked down at her lap upon remembering what happened at the club. "I didn't go well judging by your expression."

"No, no… It went really well." Riley said and sat up more in the bed instead of leaning against the headboard. "I'm starting work tomorrow."

"Really? I'm really happy for you, sweetie! What is the job? Where?" Topanga said with a grin.

"I'll be working as a waitress in the restaurant of a sports club…. It's a really big and beautiful place… Maya will also start working there with me." Riley said with a small smile and very little excitement.

"How great!" Topanga said before noticing how down Riley looked. "But why are you so down then, Riley? What happened? Nothing bad happened to you, right?" Topanga asked worriedly.

"No, nothing happened… I'm just a little tired."

"My little baby…. Alright but why the scowl? Riley… You're not hiding something from me, are you?"

"No, Mum… I'm okay, don't worry…. I'll be fine when I wake up, I just need to rest." Riley said and plastered a smile on her face.

"Okay… Have some rest then… I still have a few things to do." Riley nodded and with that Topanga left her to her thoughts.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Farkle and Lucas were still at Ian's restaurant having some coffee, while Lucas waited for Kayli. When Farkle spotted her coming into the restaurant with about five shopping bags in each hand, he stood up.

"I'm leaving then, cousin." Lucas nodded.

"Hey, Farkle… How are you?" Kayli greeted with a smile when she reached their table.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Fine as well… You're not leaving because I'm here, are you?"

"Of course not, honey… I'm a bit tired so I'll head home for the day." Farkle explained and she nodded with a smile. "Alright then… Bye." With that he left.

Lucas gave Kayli a hug and a kiss on the cheek before sitting back down in his chair while Kayli sat her shopping bags on the floor by their table and sat down.

"What's wrong with him? He looks upset." She said.

"He's mind is stuck on Miley… they met today at the sports club."

"So she's still going after him?"

"Yeah… She's trying to make up with him."

"If he did that then he'd be making the biggest mistake in his life." Kayli said with a nod.

"Why are you saying that? I mean… I don't think that Miley is bad even if you don't like her." Lucas said with a frown.

"What's wrong, Lucas? Defending Miley and such." She said with a tight smile and narrowed eyes.

"I'm just saying, babe." Lucas said with a shrug then Ian made his way to their table.

"Hey, Kayli… How are you?" Ian greeted.

"Hey, Ian… I'm fine." She said with a smile as she looked up at him.

"We'll have something to eat." Lucas said.

"Alright…" Ian nodded and turned towards one of the waiters. "Can we have two menus here?" He turned back to them as a girl joined him. "Let me introduce you to my cousin, Nicole." He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "She lives in England and came here for vacation."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kayli." She said with a smile and extended a hand for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you too." Nicole said with a smile and shook her hand.

"Alright let's go… I promised her that I'll show her around for a bit at night." Ian said with a smile.

"Enjoy your time." Lucas said.

"And you enjoy your meal." Ian said and they both left after saying their goodbyes. The waiter came and handed them their menus.

"What are you gonna have, babe?" Lucas asked her as he looked through his menu.

"I'll have something light… A salad would probably be fine."

"Alright… And what are you gonna have for drinks?"

"I don't know yet." She said while looking at her menu. Right then a woman walked through the doors with a baby in her arms that looked no older than three, and a man behind her that Lucas guessed was the father. He saw them while he was calling the waiter and couldn't help but smile at how gentle the mother was and how peaceful the baby looked as he slept. "I'll have…. The seafood salad and a soda please." Kayli told the waiter and he wrote down her order with a nod.

"And I'll have a chicken pasta with iced Pepsi, please." Lucas said and the waiter that down as well before taking their menus and leaving. Right then, the baby started crying loudly and Kayli looked at him in annoyance. "So… When are you moving to LA? Do you have a date set?"

"We'll be done moving by the end of next week, love." Kayli said with a smile. "That was really good, to be honest… or else we would've barely seen each other until we go back to college."

"Yeah… That's very good." Lucas said with a smile that came from nowhere near his heart. He actually hated that they'll see each other more often because that would tie him to behaving a certain way. The waiter came back with their drinks just as the baby cried loudly once again making both Kayli and Lucas look at him.

"What in the world is this?" Kayli said in annoyance as she looked at Lucas with a scowl on her face but he was busy looking at the little family. "Why do they bring babies to places like this? They don't need to annoy everyone else with their whiny little baby."

"What's wrong with that, babe? He's just a little baby…. He'll quiet down soon, he just wants someone to give him attention." Lucas said while looking at their table with a soft smile.

"Lucas? What's wrong with you? You're acting really strange today… You absolutely hate kids." Lucas looked at her briefly before looking back at the baby that his mother was now bouncing up and down on her leg. He couldn't help but remember the same encounter from the Bahamas with Riley and his smile widened.

* **FLASHBACK** *

 **"Ahh! The place here is so pretty." Riley said happily as she looked around her with a grin.**

 **"Yeah… I liked it too." Riley looked at him in confusion so he continued, "I came to the Bahamas before but this is the first time that I've ever been to this restaurant. It's designed beautifully."**

 **Riley was about to say something but their food arrived and they both dug in. Riley's eyes rolled back when she took her first bite because of how delicious it was and Lucas watched her as he ate his food as well. On the table that was a few feet from them, there was a lady with a baby on her lap and the baby was crying very loudly. Lucas looked at their table in annoyance and huffed.**

 **"Listen to her cries…. My head is gonna explode from it." Lucas said in annoyance and Riley looked over at the table as the waiter brought them their choice of juice. Lucas put down his fork and stopped eating.**

 **"I wonder why she's crying this hard…" Riley wondered sadly as she looked at the little girl.**

 **"Because she's spoiled… That's why." Lucas stated.**

 **"She must be upset about something…" Riley said with a sad smile before she went back to eating, glancing at the girl often. She sighed before she got up and made her way to their table as Lucas watched. "What happened, baby girl? Why are you crying?" Riley asked sweetly in a somewhat of a baby voice.**

 **"May I?" She told the mother as she held her hands out and the mother nodded. "Come here…" She told the baby who tried to be away from her. She finally took hold of her and held her in her arms. "Oh hey… Pretty eyed baby…" She used the same baby-sweet tone as she patted the girl's back as she looked in her big blue eyes. "Don't you cry, pretty baby… don't cry."**

 **A smile creeped onto Lucas' face as he watched Riley interacting with the little baby. He didn't even notice that her cries subsided.**

 **"It's okay, baby… It's okay." She made funny faces to the baby and she stopped crying and laughed instead. She then handed her back to her mother. "God bless her for you."**

 **"Thank you." The mother said with a smile and Riley nodded with a smile as well before going back to her table.**

 **"See? She just needed someone's attention." Riley said with a shrug and went back to eating. Lucas just stared at her for a little more with the same smile on his face.**

 **"You're right." He said making her smile.**

"Lucas? Lucas?" Kayli called his name with her eyebrows frowned in confusion as she watched him looking at the now quietly sleeping baby with a smile on his face. He looked back at her and the smile got wiped away as he was brought back to reality. "What happened, love? What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." He said with a shake of his head and she just looked at him suspiciously.

* * *

"I'm so happy for you… Especially about moving to LA. This is something that is so important to me too… Congratulations, honey!" Cathy said excitedly as she looked at Ella who was sitting across from her on the round table.

"We're gonna meet more often now, aren't we?" Ella asked with a smile.

"Of course, honey." Cathy said and they all smiled.

"I also talked to Farkle today." Minkus said with a happy smile.

"About Ella?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah… And Ella talked to Kayli about me." Minkus said and Ella nodded with a smile.

"How did they react to the news then? I'm sure that they were very happy for you." Cathy said.

"Farkle was really happy… And Kayli was very supportive of Ella." Minkus replied with a big smile.

"I'm very happy for you… but… um…" Cathy trailed off as played with her hair nervously. "Caitlyn?"

Minkus sighed and shook his head, "I still didn't get the chance to talk to her."

"I hope she doesn't take the news badly." Cathy said and Ella's eyes went wide.

"Um… Why would she… take it badly?" Ella asked nervously.

"Honey…. You know that Minkus has been a father and mother figure ever since they were little kids… Especially for Caitlyn…" Cathy explained.

"Of course I know that…. I know that but… Caitlyn is not a little kid now, isn't she?"

"Of course she isn't but…. Anyways, don't think about that… How hard can these things be to go through?" Cathy said with a smile and they all cracked small smiles.

Back in the Minkus' house, Caitlyn was laying on the couch in a yellow tank top and a pair of green pajama shorts that had yellow flowers on them and she had a bowl of Cheetos on the lap.

"She is definitely his girlfriend… But since when?" She said to herself as she looked at a picture of Ian and Nicole that he has just posted on his Instagram. "I'm gonna cry now." She said with a sniff. She dialed her father's number.

"Oh, Caitlyn is calling." Minkus said with a smile. "Hey, baby girl."

"Hey, daddy… Where are you?"

"Is something wrong, Cait? Are you okay?" Minkus asked in concern upon hearing her voice.

"I'm a little upset… Will you come back to the house?"

"Why are you upset, baby? Do you want to tell me on the phone?" He asked.

"I don't want to talk about it, dad…. I just want you with me… I need you." She said as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Okay, baby… I'm coming."

"Don't take long, dad."

"Alright… Don't worry, I'm coming right away." He said reassuringly and hanged up.

"What's wrong, love? Does Caitlyn have a problem?" Ella asked in concern.

"She's upset but she wouldn't tell me why…. She just said that she needs me." He explained.

"Alright… We could leave if you want." Ella said.

"Can you excuse us to leave?" Minkus asked as he looked at Cathy and Joseph.

"Of course, you can leave." Joseph said with a reassuring smile and Cathy nodded. "We can stay a little longer if you want, honey." Joseph said while looking at Cathy who nodded with a smile.

"Ella if you want to stay-"

"No, honey… I'm leaving as well… Kayli just sent me a text that she's also heading to the hotel." Ella said reassuringly and they got up and headed towards the door after saying their goodbyes.

"We were supposed to take a look at the house as well too… I'm so sorry, baby." Minkus said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Its okay, love…. It's late now anyways… We'll look at it tomorrow." Ella said with a smile.

* * *

"Why would he post a picture with her if she wasn't his girlfriend, Sofia? She must be his girlfriend… I'm done… My chance is out the window now." Caitlyn said through the phone.

"Off… I wanted to pull her hair out to be honest." Sofia said with a huff.

"You don't have any idea what _I_ wanted to do." Caitlyn said. "My man got taken from me… And she's not even pretty! Does she even suit him?" Right then she heard their front door opening. "My brother is probably back… I'll call you later." With that she hanged up.

"Caitlyn? What are you doing down here?" Farkle asked in confusion as he walked into the living room and sat on the end of the couch where her feet were.

"Nothing… I was talking to Sofia on the phone."

"Weren't you together all day anyways? What is important enough that you're talking about that much? Besides, you just got up and left Ian's restaurant without saying anything to him… Did something happen?"

"Yeah… Sofia's mother called and we had to leave immediately." She said while looking down at her fingers. "Besides, Ian was very busy with his girlfriend… I didn't even think that he saw us leave."

"His girlfriend?" Farkle asked in confusion. "Does Ian have a girlfriend?"

"Doesn't he?"

"As far as I know, he doesn't have a girlfriend… Where did you get that from?" Farkle asked with his eyebrows frowned.

Caitlyn sat up and unlocked her phone. "When I saw their picture on instagram… I just thought…" She showed him the picture.

"OH! That's his cousin, Nicole." He said with a smile. "She lives in England and came to California for vacation."

"Cousin? Of course!" She said happily. "She looks very nice and pretty." Farkle took one of her Cheetos and popped it into his mouth and she did so.

They talked for a few minutes before they both headed up to their rooms where Caitlyn excitedly called Sofia and told her what happened.

"Yes! She's his cousin…. Yeah, you're right I need to confess to him… I'll do it in my birthday! What do you think?" Caitlyn said excitedly.

"Caitlyn?" Minkus said as he knocked at her bedroom door.

"My dad is back… I'll call you tomorrow… Okay, bye." She hanged up and sat up on the bed. "Come in!"

"Baby girl, are you alright?" Minkus asked right when he opened the door.

"I'm alright, dad… Why wouldn't I be?" Caitlyn asked in confusion.

"You called me and told me to come back home quickly." Minkus said in confusion as well.

"AH! I misunderstood something, daddy!" She said with a grin. "But I'm fine now… I'm even in the best state possible! I'll be in an even better state if I go to sleep and wake up on my birthday!"

"Alright… Whatever you say…" Minkus said in confusion.

"Goodnight, daddy!" Caitlyn said excitedly and kissed his cheek before getting under the covers.

"Goodnight, baby girl." Minkus said, still confused but left her room anyways.

* * *

Lucas parked his car before getting out of it and heading towards their front door but stopped in front of the door of the penthouse/guesthouse briefly with a smile on his face before heading towards their front door. Just as he walked inside, Riley walked out of the penthouse and closed the door behind her. As she headed towards the kitchen, her mother came out.

"I was coming to check on you, Mum." Riley said. "Isn't your work done?"

"No, it's done… I'm just gonna take the dirty cups from the balcony and with that I'll be done for the day." Topanga said with a smile.

"I'll take them."

"Alright… Take them back to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher, okay?" Riley nodded and headed into the kitchen before heading to the balcony while Lucas took his laptop and sat outside in the balcony of his room. It was a place where nobody from the second floor could see him so Riley couldn't see him.

He logged into his Facebook account before typing 'Riley Mathews' in the search bar. Luckily, she had a picture of herself as her profile picture so he clicked on the account. He opened her photos section and started scrolling through her pictures. One picture was of her in a tight black turtleneck dress and a red flannel wrapped around her waist. Her hair was curled and she had a somewhat surprised expression on her face. He thought she looked really cute and it looked like a picture off of a photoshoot. The next picture was of her by the beach with her hair tossed to one side and her signature mini smile on her face, looking so gorgeous once again. There were a few pictures of her and the blonde girl.

He was looking at her pictures with a soft smile on his face until he came upon the prettiest picture of them all, her profile picture. She had her wavy hair laying on her shoulder while she had it tucked behind her ear on the other side. She was looking at the camera with an expression between innocent, cute, sexy and serious. He couldn't pinpoint what her expression was but she looked very beautiful. She had a shiny black sweater on with a few rows of kisses on it in pale pink and light pink. Her makeup was also very soft and her lips were in a soft pink color.

He clicked on his playlist and a soft melody started playing. He didn't really listen much to the lyrics as he was busy staring at the pretty brunette that seemed to be staring back at him.

Riley stopped what she was doing as she heard the beautiful melody that was coming from the floor below her. She leaned over the railing to try and see who was playing it but failed to do so. She leaned on it and enjoyed the song that was very fitting to her feelings. **(AN; I suggest putting the song on as you read the rest of the chapter**. **Also, everything that is in normal writing between the lyrics is flashbacks. What has RUCAS Is what Lucas is remembering and if its Riarkle then Its Riley remembering)**

 **Hey, yeah yeah**

 **I hate you, don't leave me**

 **I feel like I can't breathe**

"Well… since we're gonna act like you're my girlfriend, we should get to know each other more. I mean… I don't know anything about you except that you make really delicious cakes." He told her with a grin making her smile shyly.

"Well, I'm Riley Mathews… I just turned twenty and I live with my mum in LA… My dad passed away when I was thirteen so it's just me and my mum now…. My best friend and I came to Miami for work…"

"I'm sorry about your loss…" Riley gave him a small smile. "Um… Do you go to college?"

"I couldn't go to college last year because I didn't get the opportunity to… But I passed my college exams so I'll be able to go to college this year, hopefully…. What about you?"

"Well… I'm Farkle Minkus… I'm twenty-one and I live with my dad and sister in LA as well…. and I study economics. I took a year off before college so I'm starting my third one this year."

"Did you lose your mother as well?" She said and Farkle's expression turned into a sad one.

"You could say so… Um... I work with my dad and my uncle, Lucas' dad, during the summer when I don't have to go to college and I came here to manage the hotel and see if it needs any improvements."

"What do you mean by 'manage the hotel'?"

"My dad and my uncle bought this hotel a few months ago and named it Aquamarine."

"I didn't know that… it surprised me."

"Well, it's a good thing we talked about the basic stuff… Kayli is a really curious, suspicious girl… She'll want to know every little thing about us. For example, how did we first meet? What should that be?" He said and Riley thought about it for a few moments.

"I don't know…" she said as she put her elbow on the table and her head on her hand, "Nothing comes to my mind."

"I think we should think about this a little more…" Farkle said and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Riley grinned.

 **Just hold me, don't touch me**

 **And I want you to love me**

 **But I need you to trust me**

 **Stay with me, set me free.**

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked in concern.

"I am… I'm so sorry that I ruined your car." Riley said guiltily.

"It wouldn't have been much of a problem if it was my car." He said as they both looked at the damage.

"Then whose car is it?" Riley asked in confusion.

"I don't know. It wouldn't have been a problem either if I knew who it belonged to. I took a client's car from the hotel so that I could follow you." Lucas said shrugging.

"So you stole it? Did we crash a stolen car?"

"Technically, you crashed a stolen car."

"SHUT UP!" Riley exclaimed and Lucas jumped back slightly in surprise. "We just needed to get arrested. Yep, that's just what we need." She said mostly to herself. "YOU STUPID JERK! If it weren't for your freaking 'shortcut' we wouldn't be in this situation."

"What?" Lucas said, "YOU crashed the car! I told you to press lightly and you went over board and CRASHED it. This is NOT my fault!"

Riley just chose to glare at him and not answer back. They heard buzzing coming from above them and looked up to see a beehive hanging very loosely from the tree the car crashed into. One bee was flying around them and then the beehive fell to the floor, all the bees flying out of it. They looked at each other in panic.

"BEES!" They both exclaimed, "HURRY! LET'S GO!"

"Run!" Lucas took hold of Riley's and they both started running away from the bees. They kept running with the bees following them until they were met with a little lake and Riley stopped in her tracks as Lucas moved to get into it. He turned to her, "Bees can't live in water, C'mon."

"I can't get into the water…" Riley said in fear.

"Don't worry… I'll hold on to you. You just try not panic and drown me, okay? C'mon hop on my back." He said trying to calm her but she was still skeptical. "Trust me, Riley. I won't let go of you." He said softly but hurriedly and she nodded before hopping on his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck tightly but not tight enough to kill him. He held one of her hands that was around his neck and started walking into the water. And as expected, the bees didn't follow.

 **But I can't back down  
No, I can't deny  
That I'm staying now  
'Cause I can't decide  
Confused and scared  
I am terrified of you**

"Is that how you're gonna get your revenge for what happened last night? By torturing me with serving you?" She snatched the drink from him.

"For now, yes. But I certainly do have better plans for the future." He said without looking at her.

"If I'm doing what you ask me to do, it's only because I'm embarrassed from throwing up on you, last night. That's the only reason, so keep it in mind. For that reason, don't get on my nerves." Lucas just laughed and she huffed before storming over to the bar and adding ice. She went back to him and shoved it into his hands. She didn't get three steps away before he stopped her once again.

"It doesn't have lemon in it." She snatched it and went to add lemon to it. She looked back at him as she waited for them to put the lemons to find him laughing while looking at her. She took the cola and made her way back to him. She didn't leave though after shoving it in his hands, already sensing that he'll call her back. She watched as he took a sip before shoving it towards her.

"I don't like it. Get me a Pink berries soda."

"Oh…. I change my mind… Get me a sprite instead." He said after she handed him his Berries soda and he once again stopped her when she was three steps away from him. She should try running next time, then. She took it from him and got him his sprite.

"With Ice AND lemon." She said as she shoved it into his hands.

"And who said that I wanted it with ice and lemon? Make it without lemon and ice." She took it from him as he looked the other way thinking that she'll leave.

"Right away…" At that he smirked without looking at her. "Without ice…" She said as she slipped her fingers inside the glass and took the ice cubes out before throwing it on the floor. "And without lemon." And with that she took out the lemon as well before pouring the plain sprite on top of Lucas' head. He looked at her with his mouth open before he closed it tightly and shook his head at her.

"Riley, give me your hand, please?" He said in a fake nice voice and she gave it to him foolishly. Once he had a firm grip on her hand, he pulled forward towards the pool and she literally flew right above his head, hitting him with her leg in the head, and fell into the water. The hit he received dunked him under water so he swam to the edge again and laughed at her, along with all who witnessed her fall, as she flailed her arms around then suddenly she stopped moving and that was when he panicked.

 **I admit I'm in and out of my head  
Don't listen to a single word I've said  
Just hear me out before you run away  
'Cause I can't take this pain**

"Keep the change." He told the driver and they both got out of the car.

"I'll pay you back once my friend arrives…" Lucas turned towards her just as she stumbled and almost fell but he caught her.

"Are you okay? You look really pale." He asked genuinely concerned and Riley gave a laugh because she saw that he had three heads.

"No… I'm not okay…" And with that she started falling as she fainted but Lucas' arms around her waist stopped her from falling.

"That's just what I need…" Lucas said as he supported her with one arm, "Hey, wake up, are you okay?" he tried to wake her and failed. "I don't even know her name." With that, he scooped her up into his arms bridal style and went inside the hotel and up towards his room.

When they got in, Lucas kicked the door closed with his foot and headed towards the bedroom so that she could lay down in his bed. She started stirring in his arms though so he sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?" he felt like he's said these words a thousand times in the past hour and half. Riley shook her head and looked like she's about to throw up. "Don't you dare… Swallow it, swallow-" Riley threw up on his shoulder and luckily it was just the drink she had. He immediately put her on the ground and started unbuttoning his shirt off. "What did you do?!"

"I'm so sorry!" Riley said as she ran off to the bathroom she got in and closed the door after herself!

 **I hate you, don't leave me**

 **I hate you, don't leave me**

' **Cause I love when you kiss me**

 **I'm in pieces, you complete me**

"Weren't the slides so much fun?" Caitlyn asked them excitedly.

"Yeah… I was a bit scared at first but then I had so much fun." Riley said as she looked at her. She accidently put one foot in front of the other and stumbled, almost falling flat on her face if it wasn't for the hands that held her. Lucas had hurriedly reached forward and caught her arm while Farkle caught the other. Riley stared at Lucas and he stared back at her. He then looked at Farkle who nodded discreetly, as if to tell him 'I got it' so he let go and backed away.

"Are you okay?" Farkle asked still holding her arm.

"I'm okay." Riley said and he let go of her arm as they started walking.

"Hold your girlfriend's hand, Farkle." Kayli said as she noticed him keeping his hands to his sides. "Oh… or maybe you haven't held hands until now?"

Farkle looked at Riley saying 'shall we?' with his expression and she gave a discreet nod so he reached towards her hand and wrapped his fingers around it.

"You look so good together and you suit each other really well!" Caitlyn said excitedly.

"Caitlyn." Farkle said in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay. I'll shut up." She said before lowering her voice and saying to Ian. "Are they really boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Of course." He said in a whisper too.

"Caitlyn! I can hear you!" Farkle warned with a smile.

"I just can't believe that you too are dating." She said with a giggle and they stopped walking.

"What else do you need to see to believe?" Lucas said sarcastically.

Caitlyn thought about it for a few seconds before grinning, "I'll believe it if you kiss her." Riley's eyes went wide at her words.

"Caitlyn-" Farkle started but was interrupted.

"Me too. We've been together for two hours and you haven't even tried to kiss her…. You have kissed before, haven't you?"

"C'mon guys kissing isn't something that can be done knowing that everyone is watching." Ian said.

"All we need is a little peck, brother." Caitlyn said and Farkle huffed before looking at Riley who shrugged, embarrassed. He took hold of her face gently and guided his lips towards hers after they'd both closed their eyes. They kissed for a few seconds before he pulled away and Riley opened her eyes and smiled slightly.

 **But I can't back down  
No, I can't deny  
That I'm staying now  
'Cause I can't decide  
Confused and scared  
I am terrified of you**

"Are you on your honeymoon?" The sales assistant asked while a smile as she saw their backs. They both turned to her and looked at her like she had two heads. She pointed at their t-shirts, "Your t-shirts are really pretty."

Riley and Lucas looked at their plain white t-shirts in confusion.

"How so?" They both asked and the lady pointed at her back. They looked at their backs through the mirror and finally understood all the pointing and smiling. Lucas' shirt had a little boy, drawn with lines, running with a big red heart balloon in his hands. The boy was running towards the other side of the shirt and the letters 'L-O' were written in cursive writing. Riley's had a little girl with a red heart balloon as well, running towards the other side of the shirt, as in, running towards the boy. She had the letters 'V-E' written on hers to complete the word 'L-O-V-E'.

If you still didn't get it, they were wearing couple t-shirts.

They both looked at each other before hurriedly taking them off, with Lucas once again not caring that he's shirtless in the middle of a store.

 **I admit I'm in and out of my head  
Don't listen to a single word I've said  
Just hear me out before you run away  
'Cause I can't take this pain, no**

"Thank you for everything, Riley" Farkle told her as they stood in front of the elevator back in the hotel. Riley gave a small smile as she looked up at him. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong that upset you."

Riley shook her head quickly, "You didn't."

"I'm glad to know that." He gave her a smile. "You got in a few tough situations tonight that made you nervous… That really made me upset. I don't have the right to make you go through that… I'm sorry about everything that had made you uncomfortable and everything that you did against your will." He looked at Riley who had adverted her eyes to the ground. "Tomorrow, I'll tell everyone that we broke up." Riley looked up at him in surprise and he gave her a small smile. "But Caitlyn will be so mad at me…. She really loves you."

"I love her too… She's a sweetheart." Riley said as she gave him a small smile while holding her tears in.

Farkle smiled at her and she looked away, "Anyways… once again, I'm so sorry for everything… Take good care of yourself."

"Thank you… you take good care of yourself too." Riley said with a small smile before turning her back to him and pressing on the elevator button as her eyes filled with tears.

 **I'm addicted to the madness  
I'm a daughter of the sadness  
I've been here too many times before**

Lucas and Riley were standing in the mother's room cradling the tiny babies in their arms while the mother and father watched with smiles on their faces. Riley was holding the boy while Lucas was holding the girl.

"They're very cute." Riley said quietly to not disturb the sleeping baby in her arms. "God bless them for you."

"I hope they live happily and in good health for as long as they live." Lucas said while looking at the father.

"Thank you." The mother said with a smile. The babies started fidgeting so they carefully laid them back in the hospital cribs. They didn't notice the looks that were exchanged between the two young parents before the mother spoke again. "What are your names?"

"Riley." She said with a smile.

"Lucas."

"We'd like to name our children after you if you don't mind." The mother said with a smile.

Riley's head snapped to Lucas' with eyes filled with happiness and hope and the grin that was on his face told her that he didn't mind either. "We'd be very happy… Thank you so much." Riley said.

"We should go now… congratulations again." Lucas said.

"Thank you again… Maybe we wouldn't have been able to experience this happiness if you didn't stop your car and decide to help us." The father said with a grateful smile.

"You shouldn't think about that now… I mean you're now with your two beautiful children and they're very well and healthy… nothing else matters not even the troubles you went through until you got to this point…They're over now anyways." Riley said while Lucas smiled big while looking at her.

"Thanks to you." The father said and they both smiled in return.

"Excuse us…. Bye." Lucas said and they both left with smiles on their faces. "It's a good thing that I listened to you and stopped to help them." Lucas told her as they made their way out of the hospital doors and down the stairs.

"For the first time my day ended well with you." Riley said but the little giggle that escaped her lips and her smile told him that she was just being playful. He grinned at her.

"Yeah… C'mon, let me take you home." He said and she nodded.

 **Been abandoned and I'm scared now  
I can't handle another fall out  
I'm fragile, just washed upon the shore**

"You probably killed the guy." Riley said starting to panic even more.

"Calm down, Calm down." Lucas said as he took more deep breaths. Riley put her ears back to his mouth to see if he's breathing.

"He's not breathing, I swear he's not breathing!" She looked back at the guy who suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her. "OH MY GOD!" Riley said as she hurriedly got up and stood beside Lucas.

"Run! Run as fast as you can." Lucas said as she followed his words and started running with him following her. The guy got up from the floor.

"I'll kill you!" He said after Lucas before he went after him.

Because of her pumps, she stumbled on one of the stairs and twisted her ankle slightly. Lucas hurriedly took her hand in his and dragged her the rest of their run out. Riley looked at him confused. Right when they got of the club, camera flashing was all they saw.

"Shit! That's what I needed." Lucas whispered as Riley tried to hide her face as much as she can. "Don't take pictures, dude. Don't take pictures." He pushed them away as he pulled Riley with him until he found a taxi parked. Riley looked back briefly and saw the guy making his way out of the club.

"AHHH! HE'S COMING!" She screamed and Lucas pushed her into the taxi gently but hurriedly before getting in and closing the door.

"Drive off, Hurry." Lucas told the driver who just drove off. They both pulled out their phones to call their friends. Lucas, who has charged his phone in Farkle's car, called Farkle who didn't answer while Riley called Maya who didn't answer as well. They both sighed.

 **They forget me, don't see me  
When they love me, they leave me**

"I ALMOST DROWNED! OH MY GOD LUCAS!" Riley screamed as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

"I don't know about you but I'll drown anyways if you don't loosen up your grip!" Lucas told her in panic. He took hold of waist and brought her feet back to the ground.

"Where did you get the whole 'I'll teach you how to swim' thing from? I'm okay without knowing how to swim!"

"You're this old and you haven't learned how to swim, Riley!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Maybe I had to go through something that stopped me from learning, Lucas." Riley said in a small voice as she looked up at him. "I was about to die when I was five… I went into the sea by myself and got in too deep and I almost drowned to death. My father swooped in last minute and saved my life… They tried to get me to learn how to swim later but after that incidence I developed a fear of oceans and pools."

"Okay… You're a big girl now, Riles… I'm right here, don't be scared." Lucas told her softly.

"You called me Riles…"

"If you don't want me to call you that, I won't… It slipped."

"No, it's fine…"

"Okay now relax… C'mon." he said and she nodded. He took hold of her waist and made her lay down on the water while he held her up by her waist and legs. She started moving her legs into the water. "See? You're doing it!"

"I really did it! I can swim!" She exclaimed happily.

"I wouldn't say that you can swim just yet. You have to learn a few things first."

"Okay, I'm ready." She said and Lucas watched her moving her arms and legs into the water for a few minutes before she jumped with a scream and went back to wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "SOMETHING TOUCHED MY FEET!" Lucas' face was right in front of her chest, and while at any other time he would've been uncomfortable as hell, right now he only cared about not falling into the water with the force she's using.

"It's probably a fish, Riley!" He said with his hands on her waist keeping her still.

"Please get me out! That's too much for me, Lucas." Riley cried.

"Okay, okay… Let's get out. Just get your feet on the ground first." He said as he slowly tried to get her off of him.

"Just don't let me go, Lucas!" She exclaimed and Lucas stopped what he was doing and laughed out loud. He was laughing harder than Riley ever saw him laugh.

"Riley… That's very hard to do with you stuck to me like that." He said through his laughter as he looked up at her and she couldn't fight off her smile.

 **I admit I'm in and out of my head  
Don't listen to a single word I've said  
Just hear me out before you run away**

"One Berries flavored soda, please." She told the bartender who gave it to her a few seconds later. "Thank you."

She took and hurriedly made her way to Farkle's chair. She was going so fast while looking at the glass in her hands that she didn't notice the umbrella above his chair and she walked right into it, hitting her head.

"Ahhh!" She exclaimed as it hit her head and instantly, the drink in her hand was poured right on Farkle as she stumbled. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, pardon me! Are you okay? Oh my god, I'm such a klutz!" She said hurriedly as she went to retrieve a towel from his chair when he stopped her.

"Don't care about me, are you okay?" Farkle said gently with worry written all over his face as he bent down slightly to inspect her face and head better for any injuries. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm okay. I didn't notice…" she said nervously. Farkle just got a tissue from the little table beside his chair.

"You head is bleeding, let me take a look." Then he gently dapped the tissue on her temple to wipe of the little bit of blood that came out. Riley just looked at him as he did so. Suddenly he seemed to realize something and smiled at her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She said with a smile when she realized that he finally recognized her.

"Did you start working here?"

"Yes, this is my first day."

"That's good. I wish you good luck." He smiled at her.

"Thank you." Riley said in soft shy voice.

 **'Cause I can't take this pain  
No, I can't take this pain**

"C'mon please cover for me today as well… I'll help you get your job back." Lucas told her.

"Oh, thank you… As if you're giving me a philanthropy… You're so used to buying everything with your money! But this is different Lucas! I don't even want the stupid job!" She snapped and looked away from him while he slipped the money back in his pocket.

"What happened to you? Just a few minutes ago you were saying that this was such a nice day." Riley looked at him briefly before looking away and huffing while Lucas smirked. "Wait a minute… Are you jealous over me?" She looked at him with wide eyes before snapping.

"Why would I be jealous over you, huh? Who do you think you are to make me jealous?" Riley snapped and Lucas kept staring at her with a smirk. "I won't turn around and spare you a single look even if you were the last man on this earth. You're such an arrogant, self-centered, annoy-" Riley was suddenly cut off and her eyes widened in surprise as she realized what's happening.

Lucas grabbed the back of her head and pulled her towards him, quickly shutting her up as his lips smashed onto hers. Riley's eyes closed and kissed him back without even realizing it.

 **I hate you, don't leave me  
I hate you, please love me**

As the soft guitar melody came to an end, Riley shook her head as the kiss replayed back in her head.

"He's not even a dream for me now… I have to forget him." She said to herself.

Lucas sighed as he finally snapped out the world of flashbacks he went into while looking at her picture. He sat up and took his phone out from his pocket and dialed her number. He frowned when he heard a phone ringing from upstairs so he quietly got up and sneaked a glance at the balcony above him.

Riley kept staring at the unknown number that was calling her before answering it. "Hello?"

"How are you?" Lucas said with a smirk as he walked into his room to make sure she didn't hear his voice except on the phone.

"Lucas?! Is that you?!" Riley exclaimed as her eyebrows frowned.

"Isn't my number saved on your phone? Of course it's me." Lucas said as a matter of fact.

"I don't have your number!" She said in confusion and shrugged. "What's happening? When and how did you get my number?" Lucas stayed silent with a smirk on his face as he walked towards his door. "I left my bag in the car that we crashed… You went through it as well as my phone, didn't you? What kind of person are you? You went through my bag AND my phone AND saved my number all at the same time… It's not like I wanted your number or even wanted you to have mine! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

"We'll see each other more often from now on so I thought that we'd need each other's number… Was that too bad of me?" Lucas said as he walked out of his room and closed his door behind him.

"And why would I see you? I'm not obliged to see you just because I'll work at a place that you own."

"Yeah, I heard… I wish you good luck." Lucas said while walking up the stairs slowly.

"Farkle helped us a lot… Thanks to him I have a job right now."

"Anyways, you left the club crying today… I was worried about you but now I regret calling you more than anything… You haven't stopped talking for even a second."

Riley headed towards the door and got back inside the house since it was a bit chilly. "Why would you worry about me? Just care about your own self… I'm telling you, stay away from me! Stay. Away. From. ME!" She exclaimed the last part in frustration.

"That's gonna be a little hard to do." Lucas said and entered the living room where she was standing with her back to him.

"What do you mean by that?" Sha said in frustration as she turned around. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. She was so shocked that her phone fell out from her hands and into the carpeted flower with a thud.

Lucas just grinned at her while she kept staring at him in complete shock with her mouth open.

 _What the hell is happening?!_

That was her only thought as she stared at his grinning face.

* * *

 **13K! Oh god that was long... Well it was barely 10K before I added all those flashbacks so I'm sorry if that disappointed you... I thought it would be better if I add actual flashbacks instead of what I usually do "They remember every thing that happened...etc" so yeah. If you did read the flashbacks and noticed a few changes, then yes I did remove some things from the flashbacks.**

 **Also, If you were confused by the AN, If the flashback was a flashback of Riley and Farkle, then it's Riley who was remembering/thinking about it. If it was of Riley and Lucas, then it was Lucas remembering it while looking at her picture. If it didn't make sense to you while reading then please go over and read it again, now that you know what is what. The flashbacks are not in the order that they happened in all through the story.**

 **As for the song, I know that lyrically it doesn't go completely well with Rucas... I honestly spent about 3 entire days just listening to songs to choose one that would fit but no song seemed to fit with Lucas thinking about Riley AND Riley thinking about Farkle... It was either that or that. Songs either talk about pain or love. This song though, I liked how it goes back and forth... The lyrics are like 'I hate you' but still 'Don't leave me', you know what I mean? Also some lyrics talked about being confused and not knowing what to do and that's exactly how both Lucas and Riley feel, especially Lucas as he doesn't know what's going on with his feelings quite yet.** **All in all, this song was the one that seemed to fit the most. And I'm a major Lovatic, in case you haven't noticed by the name of my account.**

 **For Riley's pictures that Lucas saw on her account, I just chose a few that I liked from google from Rowan's previous photoshoots.**

 **I want to say something about a review that I got a few chapters ago but I forgot to actually talk about it. The reason why the want to marry Lucas to Kayli so fast is because they think that if they do that, he'll stop being the player he is and actually be faithful to Kayli and have some responsibilities. They think that marriage will get him to be mature instead of being a troublemaker. Do you get it now?**

 **Another thing is... No, Jessica is not Joseph's mistress or some child of the family or anything near that but she is someone that will bring trouble to the story in general, not just Rucas. If we're talking about Rucas, I think I already told you that Kayli will bring the most trouble to them.**

 **Also, did you guys notice how Lucas is starting to change? A flashback in this chapter really made that clear. Expect more change from him starting next chapter!**

 **I think the chapter is like 15K or something now, lol... Sorry, guys!**

 **I'd like to thank Violet1429 because she helped me a lot in the past few days with finding a song and generally, she always helps me whenever I ask for help in those ANs. Major thanks to you! **

**Song; I hate you, Don't leave -Demi Lovato.**

 **Don't forget to tell me what you thought of the chapter in the reviews!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxox**


	22. Chapter 22: Coincedence?

"What do you mean by that?" Riley said in frustration before turning around and coming face to face with him. Her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as she watched him putting the phone back into his pocket after hanging up. She couldn't believe what was happening and she was so shocked that she dropped her phone but luckily for her phone, the floor was carpeted.

"Lucas?!" She said after a few moments of standing still in complete shock. Lucas kept grinning at her and she finally seemed to get a hang of herself. "What are you-" She started in her usual loud frustrated voice and right then Lucas heard their front door opening so he ran towards her and clamped his hand on her mouth before pulling her behind one of their curtains to hide.

"What I did understand is why would leave the company today telling me that you're going to where the hotel is being built?" Cathy asked as she made her way into the living room with Joseph. Lucas put a finger to his lips in a gesture to tell Riley to stay quiet and she nodded.

"I tried telling you the entire drive back here but you don't want to understand…. I'm telling you; my program for the day changed… You know that, that Jessic kept calling and you saw that today yourself… I was really going to where the hotel is being built but then he called me again and I ended up meeting him instead." Joseph explained.

"Oh, of course!" Cathy said sarcastically. Riley shifted from one feet to another since her feet hurt and pushed Lucas away slightly. Due to the circumstances, they had to stand so close to each other and while that made Riley so uncomfortable, Lucas couldn't really say that he didn't like the closeness although he didn't know why.

"What's with that tone? Don't you trust me? For the first time in YEARS, my program for the day suddenly changes and look what you're accusing me of!" Joseph said while throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Joseph! I'm just asking you a question and I want an answer, that's all! If I hadn't met Marlene today, then I wouldn't have known anything about that change of plans you're telling me about!" Cathy replied back in frustration. After Minkus and Ella left, Cathy's friend Marlene met them and told Joseph that she saw him earlier at the restaurant but because he wasn't looking so happy she decided not to bother him.

"Do I have to tell you about everything that I do and everyone that I meet? I think you're over reacting a bit here, Cathy." Cathy looked down at her feet and her hand went up to cover her eyes.

"Alright… Maybe I am over reacting… It's just… I got really upset when I found that out from Marlene and not from you… I'm so used to you telling me about everything you do." Cathy said as she looked at him apologetically. Lucas kept looking down at Riley as she just looked straight ahead at the plain curtain they were hiding behind.

"Oh, Cathy… My beautiful wife Cathy… My queen…" Joseph said and the smile could be sensed in his voice as he cupped her cheek. Cathy giggled and he pulled her in for a deep kiss. Lucas' eyes went wide as he heard them kissing. You know that weird sound when you're kissing someone deeply? Yeah they could hear that. "Would I ever look at any woman that isn't you? Would I ever do something to make you upset?"

"You wouldn't, would you?"

"Of course I wouldn't… I love you, Cathy… You're more than enough for me." Joseph said with a smile and pecked her lips.

Cathy giggled as she pulled away, "Someone is gonna see us." She said through a giggle and Lucas shifted in his place uncomfortably while avoiding Riley's gaze.

"We're in our own house, so what if someone sees us?"

"I don't know…" Cathy said and gave a nervous giggle.

"Why don't you play the piano for me so that we can cheer up again?" Joseph said while holding her hands in his lovingly. Riley smiled, loving how so in love they seem, while Lucas huffed quietly.

"Why not? I haven't played for a while so I don't if I still have the talent though." Cathy said with a smile as she headed towards the grand Piano that was placed in a little corner in their very spacious living room. She sat down on the piano bench/chair and took the lid thingy of the white and black keys.

"Of course you still can, honey." Joseph said with a smile that she returned. He sat down on the arm of the couch that was near the piano and she laid her fingers on the keys. A beautiful soft melody started filling the entire living room. Joseph closed his eyes with a content smile on his face while Cathy played the piano.

Behind the curtain, a soft smile took place on Riley's face as she listened and Lucas looked down at her, studying her features. His eyes trailed to her smiling lips then to her nose then to her eyes. She looked up at him and scowled before pushing him away slightly because she was uncomfortable with the closeness. A small smile appeared on Lucas' face as he looked at her, the moon light that was coming from the balcony hitting her face perfectly, making her look even more beautiful in his eyes.

Riley snapped her eyes up at him with a glare and he immediately stopped smiling and looked down. Because of their slight height difference, his nose came so close to Riley's hair that wasn't tied in a ponytail anymore. _So that's where the strawberry smell was coming from._ He thought to himself as he closed his eyes and smelled her hair more. _It smells_ _ **just**_ _like strawberries, is there anything about this girl that isn't nice?_ His favorite scent was strawberries. _What a coincidence!_ He thought to himself before shaking his head and leaning away from her slightly.

The soft melody came to a stop and Joseph started clapping his hands together with a grin on his face. Lucas sighed out of relief that his mother was done.

"You're amazing!" Joseph said and leaned over to peck her lips. "My amazing wife." He said with a smile and grabbed her hand and led her out of the living room. Lucas was so thankful to the fact that his mother wears heels because he could her, her footsteps as she left the room with his father. Riley waited a few moments before nudging him and he raised a finger up because leaning over her to stick his head out from behind the curtain to see if the coast is clear.

Lucas smirked before going back to his hiding place and shaking his head. "They're still there."

"But my feet hurt." Riley whined with a huff. Lucas smiled when she wasn't looking before putting back a serious face on.

"Well if you want, then let's stop hiding and make our presence known." He said casually and Riley glared at him. "I'm so tired of hiding… What is this? I'm even hiding in my own house?" He whined with a shrug.

"Hey, don't even think about it… I'm dead if they see me with you!" Riley warned in a whisper but Lucas just smirked and opened the curtain, making Riley cover her eyes in fear. Lucas just started laughing at her expression of complete dread and fear. She took her hands away from her eyes slowly and looked around at the empty room before looking back at the laughing Lucas. "Ha ha, very funny!" She said with a glare as she went towards her phone that was on the floor and picked it up. She angrily marched towards the exit before she stopped and turned back to him. "Are you mentally sick? Or do you just enjoy making me angry? I can't seem to understand or figure it out… It's like all you care about is making me angry and getting on my nerves!"

"oh, would you look at that….You're talking too much again!" He said seriously and stepped towards her. "I'm gonna have to close your mouth."

Upon realizing what he meant, Riley clamped her hand on her mouth and raised a warning finger up at him. "Don't you dare come near me!" She said although it came out muffled because of her hand.

"Seeing me surprised you, didn't it?" He said with a smirk.

Riley took her hand away from her face, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" He said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Riley's eyes widened as realization hit her. "Ahhh! You're their son!" He just smirked at her. "Offf… Dear God, what did I do wrong in my life to deserve this?" She said as she looked up at the ceiling since she can't see the sky.

"Trust me, that's how I'm feeling about this too." He said with yet another smirk. Riley just rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Riley?" A voice called from the kitchen and Riley hurriedly pushed Lucas towards where they were hiding just a few minutes ago. "What are you doing here, baby girl?" Topanga asked in concern.

"I…" Riley trailed off nervously.

"Come on, let's head to the penthouse…"

"I was just coming anyways." Riley said with a nod and Topanga just headed through the kitchen again. Riley looked back as Lucas stuck his head out one again with a grin on his face and waved at her like a silly little kid. She gave him a death glare and headed out behind her mother.

 _How did I not understand this?_ She thought to herself as she laid down in her bed after she'd taken her makeup off and put her PJs on. _We have to move out of her as fast as possible… but how? I can't tell my mother anything either… Why can't I have some peace?_ She thought and let out a few huffs, glad that her mother was in deep sleep. _He must've been surprised as well when he saw me._ She thought before remembering all the weird things that happened to her while she was making breakfast today _. That Jerk! He knew that I was living here! He was also that big lump in the bed under the covers… He was making fun of me this entire morning!_ Her mind went back to last night when her phone magically moved from the kitchen table to the isle. _He must've gotten my phone number then… That's why it wasn't where I left it! I can't believe this! Everything was right in front of my eyes this entire day! Off, what am I gonna do now?!_

She huffed once again and rolled in bed angrily before covering her face with the covers.

She didn't know when or how, but she somehow managed to fall asleep and then the next thing she knows, is her alarm clock ringing and waking her up at six thirty in the morning. She took a shower, blow dried her hair then curled it, did her makeup and now she was putting her clothes on. She put on a white fitted crop top with tiny pink roses on it along with a pair of off-white-ish high wasted shorts and a denim button up that she left unbuttoned and rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. She put on a long silver layered necklace and her silver watch and a few rings, one of them being her friendship ring that she never took off since it was white gold. It was one that Maya also had-their friendship ring.

After fixing her hair and putting on a pair of earrings, she went to the living room and sat down on the couch to put on her shoes. She decided to pair her outfit with a pair of pink lace up oxford flats and tied the laces into a little bow.

"I have to leave before I bump into him." She said to herself as she tied the other shoe lace. She took her white bag and left out the door after making sure that the coast is clear. "I didn't even notice this car!" She said to herself as she stopped in her tracks in front of his parked car. She stormed towards it and hit the tire with her foot a few times. "Everything started because of you anyways, you stupid car!" She said to the car in frustration. She raised her hand and hit the front of the car before wincing as it hurt her hand because of the hardness. She stormed out through the house gate and walked to the compound gate for the bus stop.

* * *

"Good morning, dad!" Farkle said as he made his way into the living room in his running clothes.

"Good morning, son." Minkus said as he paused reading the newspaper. "Why are you up this early? You couldn't sleep either?"

"Yeah exactly… I'll go running for a bit."

"I would've came with you but I have to be at the company in an hour."

"We can go together later." Farkle said with a smile. "I'm heading out."

"Farkle…" Minkus called before he left the living room and stood up from the couch. "Did you think about anything concerning Cait's birthday?"

"No… I've got nothing special in my mind… but she wants to have her party at Ian's restaurant."

"… I think we should have a surprise party for her." Minkus said after a few moments of thinking. "My princess likes surprises very much…. Look, I think you should organize everything with Sofia since she knows who is coming and exactly what Caitlyn envisioned for her party. "

"That's a very good idea… I'll take care of this today, don't worry."

"Alright… I'll see you later then." Farkle nodded with a smile and went out the door.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"So… did you talk to Aunt Cathy last night about anything else?" Kayli asked as she took a bit from the breakfast food on her plate. "Were you able to talk about me and Lucas?"

"Honestly, Minkus and I were the only thing Cathy wanted to talk about… I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to talk to her… I mean I told you what happened… We had to leave after Caitlyn called… Anyways, don't worry… I'll talk to her… It would be good if we even set a date."

"Alright." Kayli said with a tight smile. "Mom, I've been feeling a little uncomfortable lately… Lucas is acting very strangely… I can't understand what's wrong with him… Maybe I'm over reacting… I don't know." She said with a frown and looked down at her plate.

"What could be wrong, baby? Did he do something?" Ella asked in concern.

"Exactly… He didn't do anything! It's been very quiet lately… Too quiet from what we're used to seeing from him."

"That's great! That means that he realized his mistakes and put a little routine for himself."

"I hope that it's like that, Mom." Kayli said with a sigh. Ella's phone started ringing and Ella just pressed on the lock button to stop the ringing. _Why don't you worry for a little bit?_ Ella thought to herself. "Uncle Minkus is calling… Aren't you gonna answer?"

"We're talking right now, baby… I'll call him later." Ella said with a shrug and went back to her food.

"Okay… Well, what did you do about the house? Did you look at any houses?" Kayli said after taking a sip of her coffee.

"No, honey… We'll probably do that today though." Ella said and took a sip of her coffee as well.

"Why? You told me yesterday that you'll look at a few after dinner."

"Yeah, that was the plan but then Cathy and Joseph joined us and after that Caitlyn called… Caitlyn had a problem and Minkus, of course, didn't want to leave her alone… So he just went home."

"Really? I wonder what made her upset… I'm really curious now."

Ella shrugged, "I don't know… But it seems like the girl has some problems."

"Exactly… She's like a child and she really loves exaggerating things… For example, tomorrow is her birthday and she's been posting all over social media for the past two weeks… People all over the Middle East probably know by now about the little princess' birthday." Kayli said with a roll of her eyes and Ella just giggled.

"You're going, aren't you?" Kayli nods to answer her question as she chews on her food. "What did you buy as a present then?"

"I haven't bought a present for her yet."

"Let's look for one together if you want… We could find a very nice and beautiful gift together."

"Oh… Why do you care? Be careful or else I'll be jealous!" Kayli said with a straight face but she was just joking.

"What I meant to say is, let's look for a good present together and that I'm thinking about her…. We don't need to embarrass ourselves in front of people, do we?"

"If that's the case, then we can look for one together… Other than that, I don't share my Mom with anyone else."

Ella giggled and took a sip of her coffee, "Look who's saying that Caitlyn is a child!"

* * *

"Good morning." Riley and Maya said as they hugged each other. They met in front of the club's gate.

"How are you, Riles? I couldn't stop thinking about you… I was so worried." Maya said in concern as she linked her arm through Riley's as they walked into the club together.

"I'd be fine if I have a day without trouble but…" Riley trailed off with a huff.

"What else happened?" Maya tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as they walked. She had her blonde hair in two French braids to get it out of her face for the day.

"Maya, you will never even imagine this." Riley said with a frown on her face. "Me and Lucas live in the same house."

"Well that's not so—WHAT!?" Maya exclaimed.

"My mother started working for Lucas' family."

"How could something like that happen?! You and Lucas… living in the same house?! Like the same exact house?" Maya said, not believing her friend's luck. "Alright, I'm definitely more than shocked or surprised right now… Is there a stronger word? Nah, I guess not… Wow, Riley!"

"Well I couldn't get out of that shock ever since last night."

"I wanna say that this is a just coincidence but… How can something like that be a coincidence?" Maya said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"That's exactly what I'm saying… It's not possible!"

"Riley… This is truly unbelievable! Things like this don't even happen in movies nowadays!" Maya said before stepping away from her friend a bit. "Riles… We've always thought and seen Farkle as the one for you but… I wonder if the one for you is actually Lucas, not Farkle…"

Riley rolled her eyes and huffed, "What am I saying and what are you saying, Maya? I don't even want to hear Lucas' name or Farkle's name!"

"Okay, okay… Don't get mad… I was just trying to look for a reason why all these 'coincidences' keep happening to you with Lucas… not Farkle… I mean what are the odds that one day he almost kills you with his car and then later you find him in Miami… Then magically your mum starts working for them and you stay with them too…"

"No, Maya… It's not a coincidence… That's just my bad luck." Riley said with a huff before gracing Maya's arm to start walking again. "We're gonna be later if we keep talking like that, let's go!"

* * *

Farkle was sitting on a bench enjoying the fresh air that was hitting his sweaty muscles, with his headphones on as he was listening to music. Suddenly a girl sits down next to him on the bench so he scoots away to give her space to sit but when he catches a glimpse of her face, he takes his headphones off and stares at the smiling girl in confusing.

"I knew that I'd find you here." Miley said with a smile.

"How?"

"Oh… It's not like we went running in this entire place way too many times together." She said with her bright smile still on her face. "I thought about coming here and trying my luck… Seems like I'm lucky today."

"I guess."

Miley scooted closer to him and grabbed his hand in hers. "Farkle… Did you think about what I told you?"

Farkle sighs and pulls his hand away from hers, "Miley… I can't bring myself to trust you again…"

"I didn't do anything to shake the trust you had in me…. The idea of our relationship getting serious scared me for a second… that's all… I regretted it the second you left the restaurant… I thought I'd lose my job… You know how much I love my job, Farkle."

"I know… You love it more than you love me."

Miley shook her head and took his hand in hers again. "You're wrong… I wanted to stand on my own feet with my job… I didn't want to be a burden to you, Farkle… But I saw everything clearly when you left me… to me, nothing means anything anymore without you in my life… I'm willing to do anything you want… I just want a second chance."

"I can't give you one, Miley… I can't."

"You can't erase everything that we had just because of one mistake on my part, Farkle…. I was completely honest with you just now… I literally told you everything I'm feeling… I need you, Farkle."

"When we weren't together, I saw you with Chris in Miami… What do you have to say about that?"

"Chris is just a cast mate that I participated in a show with, that's all… I came to Miami to see you and talk to you…. I ran into Chris coincidently while I was there so we just had a drink and talked… That's all that happened… Please, believe me…" She said softly, using her acting skills to appear innocent.

Farkle sighed and looked at the sea ahead of him for a few moments, deep in thought. "If I give you a second chance… That will be your only chance, Miley…"

"I'll take it… I won't even need a third one… I learned from my mistake, Farkle." She said happily and he just sighed. She interlaced her fingers through his. "We just made up, didn't we? We're back together?"

"Yeah… But don't expect things to go back to the way they were so fast…" Farkle said with a small smile.

"You gave me a chance… I'll do everything I can to make things even better than they were before… I promise." She said with a happy smile. "Wait…" She took her phone out of her pocket and raised it up after opening the camera app. Farkle shook his head with a smile as she leaned onto him and took a picture of them, looking like a happy couple.

"Anyways… I need to change my clothes and get to work."

"Alright, love… Maybe we could have lunch together if you get the chance."

Farkle stood up, pulling her with him as their hands were still locked together. "We could… We'll talk later."

She leaned up and hugged him. "Okay… Goodbye." She pulled away and gave him a peck on the lips. "I'll keep running for a bit, babe."

"Alright… Don't overdo it, though." She nodded and he waved at her before turning around and taking a few steps before starting to run again after putting his headphones back on.

"It was that simple." Miley said with wicked grin as she watched him. "Now, time for the enemies and friends to hear about this too." She opened her Instagram and posted their picture together, using the heart emoji as a caption.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT!**

 **Alright, first off, I'm so sorry about the shortness of this chapter considering that the last two were +12K but I just wanted to upload this chapter as fast as possible and I ran out of time. I'm travelling to my hometown, Egypt, tomorrow... Actually it's 2:25AM where I live so I'm travelling today... I'll be at the airport at noon so yeah.**

 **I honestly have no idea when the next update is gonna be... Whether it'll be in a few days or in a week... or next month. But I'm taking my laptop with me and I"ll try to write every chance I get. The next update depends on when I'll have access to internet and when I'll actually be free because I have tons of things to do in Egypt and you guys know the basics like, spending time with relatives and such.**

 **Anyhow, now that that's out of the way, I just can't not talk about the show this time.**

 **Who watched GMSkiLodge2? Oh my god guys... It's AMAZING! I literally couldn't stop smiling the entire episode. I loved Jealous Lucas so much! And damn that Lucaya scene was amaaaazing. I actually wasn't that much of a Joshaya shipper, but now I am! Their scenes were just so cute... Actually their bay window scene was the first thing I saw from that episode, and I literally had a very big smile on my face. And I squealed with happiness when he told her that he likes her too, like FINALLY!**

 **Rucas... I don't even know what to say! Wow! Their scene was so damn cute! I loved how nervous Lucas was and how he just couldn't stop smiling and his voice kept breaking... AHHHHH so cute! I had the biggest smile on my face while watching them! I knew beforehand almost everything about the episode, including his choice, but I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless with how amazing the episode was.**

 **This was by far my favorite episode from all the three seasons... Not just talking about the ships though, The episode itself was amazing no matter who got with who... I hope that we'll see more Joshaya this season although I don't think so.**

 **Anyways, back to the story... If you want to listen to what Cathy played on the piano then go to youtube and type "Love songs in Piano : Best Romantic Music" the account name is 'HALIDONMUSIC'. It's the very first song, the one the video starts on which is 'Close to you'... This was the best version I found online. The entire video is 49:24 Minutes but the song is like 3 minutes I guess.**

 **I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, even though it was short... And hopefully i'll be able to post next chapter soon.**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	23. Chapter 23: No one wants you to!

"Good Morning." Lucas said with a wave as he made his way around the pool. His parents were having breakfast in the backyard once again and he was joining them since he woke up early.

"Our son is up early today… You probably told him that he'll work at the sports club." Joseph whispered with a smirk.

"What work are you talking about, Joseph? You must be kidding." Cathy said in a whisper.

"Nope, I'm not kidding." Joseph said just as Lucas reached the table and as he was sitting down, Joseph spoke again. "Eat your breakfast quickly son…. Why don't we leave together? I'm ready."

"Where are we going, dad?" Lucas asked distractedly as he looked at the food in front of him.

"To work…. You're going to start working at the club… Aren't you aware of that?"

"What?!" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Weren't you the one who told your mother yesterday on the phone that you were going to the club to help with work?"

Lucas looked at his mother in confusion and shook his head, "No…"

"You said so, honey… Don't you remember?" Cathy asked Lucas nervously with a smile.

"Yeah, you probably just forgot." Joseph said with a smile.

"What club are you talking about, dad? How am I gonna work there?" Lucas asked with a frown.

"Where can you work then, son? Tell me… Should I create a job specifically for you?" Joseph asked and sat back in his chair. "What work can you do? What job will make you actually useful? Come on, tell me."

"Joseph!"

"Please stay out of this, Cathy." Joseph said sternly. "I mean… When it's something to his liking then he's a man who's ready for marriage and responsibilities… but when it isn't, he's just a kid. That's enough, though… He has to have some responsibilities… When I was his age, I had three different, individual jobs… I'm giving you the opportunity to choose… You either work with me in the company, or at the sports club… Which one do you want? The decision is yours."

Lucas huffed and looked away from his father. "Joseph, let the guy have his breakfast peacefully." Cathy spoke

"His breakfast? Oh yeah… You should do so… so that you're brain works well." Joseph said with a grin.

"As if you left me any appetite." Lucas mumbled to himself as he pushed his plate away slightly. Joseph continued eating with a smirk on his face while Lucas sat there, thinking about a way to escape this.

"So, what do you choose?" Joseph asked when ten minutes have passed and he was done with his breakfast.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Lucas said with a smile.

"You won't do anything work related on your own… So, that's how it is if you're that way…" Joseph said sternly.

"But all that pressure is gonna end up tiring the person out, dad."

"What are you gonna do when it tires you out? Or do you plan on leaving the house?" Joseph asked before chuckling. "You can't live for two days without your credit card… Do you know that? What if something happens to me?"

"Don't say that, Joseph." Cathy said with a frown.

"Honey… That's the way life is… Besides, I'm not gonna work till the day I die, am I? Someone has to take that weight off my shoulders… I'm tired."

"You're completely right, honey… Lucas understands you very well anyways and he probably knows that you have every right to say what you're saying, right Lucas?" Cathy said.

"Yeah… Alright, I'll start working… But of course, it would be better if I start working at the club first." Lucas said with a smile.

"Ah… The club… Great… But this time you won't work like you did in Miami… I won't allow something like that."

"Okay." Lucas said with a smile. He couldn't wait to see Riley's face when she finds out that he'll be with her there too.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Hey, love."

"Good morning, honey… I didn't wake you, did I?" Minkus said as he drove his car.

"No, I was having breakfast with Kayli." Ella answered.

"I called you earlier as well but… You probably weren't free then."

"Really? I didn't know that at all."

"It's okay… What are we doing today? When are we going to meet to take a look at the house?"

"I'll be free in an hour… I have a few things to do with Kayli first… How's Caitlyn? I hope that her problem wasn't anything big."

"No it wasn't anything big, honey… Let's talk face to face, is that okay?" Minkus said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"Yeah."

"Just give me a call when you're done and I'll come pick you up from wherever you are."

"Okay, love… Goodbye." She said before hanging up.

"What was wrong with her?" Kayli asked.

"He said that we'll talk later but I personally think that nothing was wrong." Ella said with a sigh.

"I told you so… She's just spoiled"

"Anyways… Let's get up to get a good present that the spoiled girl will like." Ella said with a chuckle and they both got up.

* * *

"Off… We really have a lot to do… I'm very nervous, Sofia." Caitlyn said as they sat on the table in their backyard.

"Calm down… Let's take a look first at what we got done." Sofia said and took the planning notebook from her along with the pen. "The dresses and shoes… done." She put a mark on them since they had that done. "We really did a good job with this one… It's amazing! Everyone is gonna LOVE your dress."

"Do you think so?" Caitlyn asked excitedly.

"Yeah…" Sofia said before going back to the notebook as Caitlyn took a sip of her tea. "Um… organizing Ian's restaurant…"

"Done as well… My baby is taking care of everything." Caitlyn said with a grin. "Today he'll meet the company that will take of everything and I already chose my cake anyways."

"He really is helping us a lot… Is the DJ ready?"

"Yeah, he said that he'll take care of that too."

"Um…. Everyone on the list got called right?"

"Yup…"

"I called everyone you told me to call." Sofia said and showed her the list.

"Ah! Riley! She's the most important one… We have to call her too."

"Are you going to invite Riley too?"

"Yeah… Why are you surprised?" Caitlyn asked in confusion.

"I'm not… I just thought that you'll hesitate because of your brother and what happened last time."

"Would I let a chance like this one pass, Sofia? One dance is gonna be enough to get them back together." She said with a grin. "Besides, this is my birthday and my brother probably won't interfere with who I invite and who I don't invite. He also knows how much I love Riley."

"Yeah." Sofia said with a nod. "Anyways, let's continue checking the list…. Your appointment at the hair salon is already booked."

"Yeah… I have to look really beautiful… How should I make him style my hair?"

"We'll decide that according to your dress…. We should make him put fake eyelashes on you… Don't forget that!" Sofia said excitedly.

"Yeah! The eyes are very important… I'll be looking at Ian tomorrow night." Caitlyn said dreamily. "And I'll tell him that I love him!"

"You're very serious about this, Cait… I mean… Are you sure about confessing on your birthday?"

"Sofia, don't take away the positive energy that you gave me, will you?"

"Okay, okay." Sofia said and they both went back to checking the list.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Yeah… My son, Lucas, is gonna start working starting today… But I don't want you to be easy on him just because he's my son, alright? You'll teach from A to Z everything that he needs to know about every type of job in the club…. How everything is managed, how to treat customers… Everything. You have my permission to do anything… You have the meat and I'll have the bones." Joseph said to the Club's manager over the phone.

"Dad, you're going overboard!" Lucas hissed with his eyes wide open.

"Alright?" Joseph asked, completely ignoring Lucas along with Cathy's disapproving gaze. "Have a good day… Bye."

"Look at the situation you've put me in, in front of someone that works for us." Lucas complained.

"That man who you're saying works for us, has been the boss of his work for years and he's managing the club perfectly…. Thanks to him, our club has become one of the best clubs in LA… It would be better if you learn something from the man instead of acting so arrogantly like that, wouldn't it?" Both Lucas and Cathy huffed as they looked away while Joseph stood up with a grin. "Come on… We should leave as soon as possible…. Just um… Change your clothes. You should wear something that's appropriate for the club." With that he headed inside the house.

"It'll be over soon… Don't be upset." Cathy said as she patted him on the back. He stood up without a word and headed into his room.

He puts on a pair of blue jeans along with a dark ice-green button up and pair of black vans. He fixed his hair and sprayed his cologne/perfume and put a white watch around his wrist before leaving his room.

"Lucas! Hurry up!" Joseph yelled from his place by the front door as Cathy fixed his clothes for him.

"I'm coming!" Lucas yelled back.

"Please don't put too much pressure on him, Joseph." Cathy said in a quite tone, afraid that Lucas might hear.

"Okay, Cathy… I told you not to worry…" Joseph answered with a small smile.

"Mrs. Cathy…" Topanga said with a small smile as she made her way towards them with two lunch boxes in her hand. She handed them to Cathy.

"Thank you so much, Topanga." Cathy said with a smile. Topanga nodded and went back into the kitchen. "Honey, that's your food."

"And for whom is that second one?" Joseph asked with a frown of confusion.

"For Mary… She asked for one."

"Did you start taking orders or what now?"

Cathy clapped her hands together excitedly with a grin, "Ah yes… I don't what to do… My friends are also asking for meals… I don't know what to do about this."

"I wonder if you should turn this into an actual job." Joseph said in sarcasm but Cathy didn't notice it.

"I don't know… I wonder if that's possible, Joseph." She said with a grin.

"Of course it isn't, Cathy… I was just being sarcastic." Joseph said with a chuckle.

"I'm ready." Lucas said with a smile as he approached them.

"Let's go then." Joseph said with a small smile on his face as well.

"You're leaving like this… Like father and son… It's making me very emotional and proud." Cathy said happily as she patted both their arms.

"Let's see how much he'll be able to endure." Joseph said with narrowed eyes as he looked at Lucas.

"You filled me up with ambition… You'll see." Lucas said with a confident smile.

"Yeah, I will." Joseph said with a nod.

"My son can succeed." Cathy said before hugging Lucas goodbye as Joseph opened their front door and stepped out, followed by Lucas. "Don't shake them, honey." She said to Joseph and pointed at the lunch boxes to which he nodded with a tight smile.

* * *

"You have a great taste, Mom… We got her a very pretty pair of shoes." Kayli said as they walked out of the mall with the shoes in a bag in Kayli's hand.

"I think that it's very chic… I hope she likes it." Ella said with a smile.

"Can she not? She'll love it!" Kayli was scrolling through her Instagram as they walked before stopping in her tracks as she came upon a certain picture. "I can't believe this! _We're picking up from where we left off with an even bigger Love_!? How?!"

"What's happening, dear?" Ella asked in confusion.

"Farkle and Miley made up." She said with a deep scowl. "But how can this happen?! And her caption ' _We're picking up from where we left off with an even bigger Love'!_ Do you know what that means, mom? Do you know?"

"Will you calm down, Kayli? I don't understand what's so bad about this that you're making it this big of a deal."

"Farkle proposed to Miley before they broke up… That means that they'll get engaged this summer AND before me and Lucas as well… No one sees how that girl really is! How can Farkle be so naïve?"

"What's wrong with that girl, Kayli? What did she do to Farkle?"

"Well first of all, she refused Farkle's proposal and broke up with him, claiming that she can't commit to anything other than her job… then she dated her friend that was also her cast mate in one of the series she did… and when that guy left her, she started going after Farkle again… And you know what the worst thing is? It's that Farkle doesn't know any of this."

Ella huffed as she looked around them, "My mind can't understand your relationships nowadays… Anyways, it's nothing that concerns you." With that she started walking again.

"It does concern me, mom! It does! This girl can't get engaged before me… But I know how to reveal her true self." She said in frustration before her mother grabbed her arm, halting her steps.

"Don't you dare! Kayli, don't you dare interfere with others' lives or else you'll be the one that gets harmed in the end… Just care about your own relationship."

"I can't even do that! You discarded me so much lately… You couldn't even talk to Aunt Cathy!"

"I told you that I'll talk to her, Kayli!"

"When!?" Kayli exclaimed and Ella huffed before taking her phone out of her purse.

"Hey, Ella!"

"Hello, Cathy! How are you?"

"I'm okay, honey… What about you?" Cathy said as she closed the magazine that she was reading.

"I'm okay too… I'm with Kayli right now and we thought about stopping by if you aren't busy."

"No, I'm free… You should stop by." Cathy said with a smile.

"All right… Goodbye." Ella said and hanged up after Cathy said her goodbye. She stopped walking and turned to Kayli with a glare. "We're going, Kayli." Kayli grinned and picked up her pace to keep up with her frustrated mother.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

Riley was serving a table when her phone rang from where she'd placed it on a counter. "Hello?"

"How are you, Riley?" Caitlyn replied excitedly.

"I'm okay, Cait… What about you?" Riley said as she looked around, making sure that no one was calling for her.

"I'm okay too… Um… Tomorrow night, I'm having my birthday party and I'll be very happy if you come."

"I can't promise you anything but I can promise you that I'll try to come…"

"Please, Riley! I promise that I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable… We'll just enjoy our time…Besides, I'll think that you still hadn't forgiven me if you don't come and that will make me very upset."

A guy raised his hand up to call for Riley and she nodded, telling him that she's coming. "Okay, Cait… I'll come."

"Okay… I'll text you the address then."

"Okay… Goodbye." Riley said hurriedly and hanged up before going to the customer's table and taking his order. "Maya… Caitlyn called me and invited me to her birthday party." Riley said as she waited for the order to be ready.

"And what did you say?"

"She kept insisting so I told her that I'll try to go but I won't."

"Why not?!"

"Maya, didn't we already agree that you won't say a thing about this from now on?" Riley asked with narrowed eyes.

Maya huffed, "Alright, I'll stay silent." She made a zipping motion over her lips as if she's zipping them shut and crossed her arms over her chest. Riley looked around while Maya bent down behind the counter. She came back up a few moments later and laid the notebook that they take the orders in in front of Riley. Riley looked at Maya before looking at the notebook then back at Maya before picking it up.

" _I think you should go."_ Riley read aloud before looking back at her smirking friend. "So you're telling me that you said that you won't talk but you didn't say that you won't write, right?" Maya nodded, her signature half smirk-half smile on her face. "You are really creative, Maya."

* * *

"Ah, how about your daughter makes her signature strawberry cake?"

"She's actually not here… She started working today… God bless her, she's so excited about this job that she left quite early… I hope it works out for her… Between you and me, Riley isn't very lucky with her bosses… She always gets the worst ones." Topanga said with a giggle and Cathy laughed too.

"I hope it turns out well for her." Cathy agreed then Katy came into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Cathy, your guests are here." Katy said with a smile.

"Ah, thank you, Katy…" She said with a smile and left the kitchen. She headed towards their backyard where Kayli and Ella were waiting. They said their hellos and gave their hugs before sitting back down. "How are you, Ella?"

"I'm fine, love… We had a few things to do at the mall and we told ourselves to stop by."

"You did well… How are you, my princess?"

"I'm alright, Aunt Cathy… Um… Where is Lucas?" Kayli asked with a smile.

"He's working… He started working today and he's taking it very seriously." Cathy said proudly.

"Really? He didn't tell me anything about this…. Is he working at the company?"

"No, honey… He started working at the sports club… The company will be boring for him so that why he started working at the club instead."

"Caring about work and such things while he's young is gonna benefit him greatly in the future." Ella said with a small smile. "Also, taking responsibilities early is very important."

"Yeah, Joseph always says so too… He says that he'll get married and be a man of responsibilities."

"Yeah, of course."

"Um… I wonder if I should go congratulate Lucas." Kayli said as she looked from her mother to Cathy.

"You can't do that from the very first day, honey… The guy is working." Ella said with a pointed look. "You'll probably see him tonight anyways… You can talk to him and congratulate him then."

"No… Of course she can go." Cathy said with a shake of her head, disagreeing with Ella. "He won't have that much work on his first day… Besides, seeing you will make his mood ten times better."

"I'll go surprise him, then." Kayli said with a grin and looked at her mother. Ella nodded with a smile.

"Honey, let our driver drive you to the sports club." Cathy suggested.

"Alright." Kayli said with a nod and right then Katy made her way towards them.

"What would you like to have?"

"I'd like a cup of Turkish coffee please… Without sugar as well." Ella said politely with a smile.

"I want the same as well, Katy…. Also, please tell the driver to get the car ready to drive Kayli to the sports club." Cathy said and Katy nodded.

"I'll be going then, Goodbye." Kayli said with a smile and stood up before leaving with Katy.

"I've been wanting to talk to you about our children for a while but we didn't get a chance to talk alone." Ella said after their coffee has arrived. "Honestly… Kayli has been feeling quite uncomfortable and uneasy lately… First canceling the trip to France then those false news in the newspapers and then a few uncaring acts from Lucas' side towards Kayli…"

"Trust me honey… I was really upset about all that too… Everything happened all at once."

"I know very well that what happened lately wasn't Lucas' fault at all." Ella said with a nod. "The guy is just paying the price of being well known in the country… He has it hard as well… So I'm not blaming him with anything… But um… It seems to me that everything will be much different if their relationship became serious… People will stop talking and both of them will look at each other more seriously as well."

"I think so too, honey." Cathy said with a grin. "Should we start the preparations?"

"What about talking to them first? What do you think? I mean… I'm sure that Kayli will be very happy but… I don't know what Lucas will have to say."

"Leave that to me… In the end, everything that we do is for their own happiness." Ella nodded with a smile as her phone started ringing.

"Excuse me." She said before answering her phone. "Hey, love."

"Hey… What are you doing?" Minkus said through the phone.

"We went to the mall and then stopped by your brother's place to talk to Cathy… What about you? What are you doing?"

"I dealt with a few matters at the company and left… We were supposed to go see the house today and I was waiting to hear from you but…"

"I made you wait, didn't I? I'm sorry." Ella said apologetically.

"It's okay… Should I come pick you up?"

"Okay." Ella said with a smile and hanged up. "Minkus will come pick me up."

* * *

Back at the club, Farkle made his way into one of the tennis tracks. He had called Sofia earlier, asking to meet her somewhere without Caitlyn knowing and she told him that she had tennis practice so that's why he was here. Sofia excused herself and her coach nodded before she headed towards Farkle with a shy smile on her face.

"Hey, Sofia… How are you?" Farkle greeted with a smile.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm fine too… Let me get straight into this… I'm thinking about having a surprise party for Caitlyn… You're the only one that can help me with this."

"I'll gladly help you with anything." She said with a grin.

"Caitlyn wants to have her party at Ian's café but we'll cancel that last minute." Farkle started explaining.

"Offf… She'll be really upset." She said with a frown. "Do we have to cancel it?"

"But how will we do the surprise if we don't cancel it?"

"Yeah… You're right." She said with a nod.

"We'll arrange a surprise party for her at our house instead."

"Um… Ian is gonna come, isn't he?" Sofia asked after a moment of thinking. Farkle looked at her in confusion so she explained herself. "I mean… I wanted to say, is he aware of this?"

"Our group is gonna come… I'll call him…. What I want you to do is to call everyone that Caitlyn invited and inform them that the party will be at the house."

"Of course, I can do that… But there is one person that I don't have their number…" Sofia said with a frown.

"Who?"

"Um… Don't be mad but… Caitlyn invited Riley to the party as well… But this time, it has nothing to do with you… Caitlyn loves Riley a lot and sees her as a dear friend of hers." Sofia explained and Farkle sighed.

"Alright… I'll tell Riley… Do you have anything else in mind that we can do?"

"Everything at Ian's place is ready, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Actually… I do have an idea… How about we put like a curtain or a giant poster in the backyard and put pictures of her since she was a baby on it? And then make of all those pictures a clip… Caitlyn will be really happy if she sees that… It'll be a very special gift to her."

"That's a very good idea… I like it." Farkle said with a grin that Sofia mirrored before it turned into a frown.

"Caitlyn is a very emotional person… She'll probably cry if she sees that… I wonder if should really do that…"

"I really admire your friendship, Sofia… I mean… I don't have a friend that cares about me from all sides… Even what I'll think about things… Honestly, I don't even know if I have a friend to begin with."

"Well, there's Lucas…"

"He is but he's a part of the family…"

"Ian?"

"You're right… But your friendship is very unique, special, and hard to find…. For that reason, you should appreciate each other."

"Don't worry… Caitlyn is a sister to me that is not related to me by blood but she's more than just a friend to me." She said with a smile that made Farkle smile as well.

"Anyways, I don't want to interrupt your practice any longer… Have a good day." He said as he patted her pair shoulder which made butterflies go into her stomach.

In a different place at the club, Lucas was flipping through a file from one of the eight folders that were given to him to sort. He was supposed to sort the files in those eight folders alphabetically then insert the information into the computer. He had five files laid out in front of him but to say that he couldn't understand a thing wouldn't even be enough.

"Offf… These files are so messed up!" He closed the folder and sat back with a huff before taking his phone and playing a game on it for a few moments before growing bored with that too. "Time won't probably pass like that… I have to enjoy my time…. I'm very bored."

Back to Farkle, He made his way into the restaurant while Riley and Maya were talking. Riley had her back to him but she could see Maya's frown. "Riley… Farkle is coming…"

"What?! Why is he coming?! What do I do, Maya? I don't know what to do." Riley whispered in panic.

"Girls… how are you doing?" Farkle said with a smile when he approached them.

"We're fine… Thank you." Maya answered.

"Everything is going fine?"

"Yeah… Thanks for asking." Riley said.

"I'm happy to hear that… Riley, can I talk to you for a minute?" Farkle asked as he looked at her.

"I have work to do anyways… I'll cover for you, Riles." Maya said giving Riley a reassuring smile, knowing well how nervous she is.

"You know that Caitlyn's birthday is tomorrow, don't you? I think she invited you as well…" Farkle said when they were alone.

"Yeah… She did." Riley said with a nod.

"Well first, I want to thank you for taking her invitation and not refusing it in spite of what she did that day… I planned a surprise party for her but the party will not happen at Ian's restaurant like she thinks but at our house."

"Are you gonna make it as if a problem happened at his restaurant?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, exactly… So that means that the party will be at our house… You're coming, right? It would be weird if you don't come because of the change of place, wouldn't it?"

"You're right…" Riley trailed off and looked at her feet for a few moments before looking back up at him. "Anyways… I have to get back to work… Would you like to have anything?"

"I'd like to have a Berries flavored soda…. But without pouring it on me this time." Farkle said with a chuckle and was expecting a laugh from her in return but only got a week smile as she looked at her feet. "I was just kidding." He said with another chuckle and patted her shoulder.

"Alright… I'll bring it right away." Riley said with a nod and turned to the waiter that gives the orders to the kitchen while Farkle went to sit down. "One berries flavored soda please."

* * *

"I wonder what my girl is doing…." Lucas said to himself with a smirk. "I can't go there now so let's have her come here then." He picked up the office telephone and pressed the number for the restaurant. "I'm calling from the manager's office… Is Miss Riley there? Will you tell her to come to the manager's office urgently? Alright, thank you." With that he hanged up.

"Miss Riley… the manager is calling you to his office urgently." The guy said after hanging up with Lucas and after Riley had served Farkle his drink. Riley's face had panic written all over it.

"Why?!" She asked in panic.

"I don't know… He just told me to ask you to go there quickly." Riley nodded and the guy went back into the kitchen. Riley kept biting on her fingernails as well as her lips.

"Riley? Are you okay?" Maya asked her as she approached her. "You got so pale…"

"Maya… The manager is calling me to his office… Am I gonna get fired again?"

"What?! Of course not…"

"But he said that it's urgent."

"Maybe he just wants like a paper or something from you, pumpkin… Don't get worried so fast."

"Is that what you think? I hope so… I'll go then."

"Alright… I'll cover for you." Riley nodded and headed towards the door that lead to the offices.

"The girl officially started suffering from a phobia of getting fired…" Maya mumbled to herself before shaking her head and continuing her work.

Riley made her way towards his office but she couldn't see his face since he had his back to her. She knocked on the door before getting inside.

"Yes, sir?" She said before turning around and raising her eyes up from the floor as Lucas slowly turned around with a grin on his face. He watched her face go from serious to surprise in a matter of seconds before it settled on a frown. He took a look at her in her uniform that was a black skirt that reached her mid thighs and a white button up that had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows along with a pair of white vans.

"Have a seat." Lucas said with a smirk.

"You again! I'm seriously going crazy!" She said with wide eyes.

"Ohhh… I've been patiently waiting to give you this amazing piece of news and you get mad at me?"

"What's the amazing piece of news? Did I get fired? Because that place is staring to be very boring."

"I don't think so… I think that it just became way more fun… Because you're new boss is…. Me."

"What!?" Riley exclaimed loudly. "I can't accept this." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

Lucas chuckled, "I didn't ask you to be my boss… I'm telling you that _I'm_ you're new boss… I don't think you understand." He said through his chuckles.

"I don't want you to be my boss! I quit then."

"Why? What's wrong with me? Can't I be a manager?"

Riley scoffed sarcastically, "Don't make me laugh… You can't even manage your own self or your own life… and you're saying that you'll manage a big place like this one?"

"So you can work as a waiter in a restaurant and I can't do this work? It can't possibly be that hard."

"I can't even put effort into talking to you… I started working her because I trusted Farkle's words when he said that you don't come hear often… So just find yourself another job!"

"Ohhh so that's how it is then."

"What else can I do? I'm trying to stay away from you!"

"You'll kick me out of the house too tomorrow or the day after." He said with a frown.

"No, I can't do that… But I need this job to leave the house… I'll leave your house after the very first chance I get, don't worry."

"No one wants you to leave here or the house, Riley! No one wants you to!" He said sternly but in a way that made Riley's heart flutter. For some reason, it felt like he was telling her that he wants her to stay and for some reason, that made her feel good. They kept staring at each other without saying a word before Riley spoke up in frustration.

"Then don't talk to me! What's wrong? Why did you call me here? What's so urgent?"

"I want your help." He said after a few moments.

"What is it this time? I'll lie again?"

"No… It has to do with work."

"Didn't you say that it's not hard? Do it yourself then."

"Are you disagreeing to your boss' words?" He said sternly.

"I have work anyways! I'll go back to my actual work if you don't mind." She explained in frustration.

"Alright… Arrange those files alphabetically then go."

"I'm telling you that I have work to do! Let your secretary do it for you…"

"I can't let then say that I couldn't do something that is as easy as that."

"Oh so you have pride… I'm surprised." She said with her eyebrows raised and crossed her arms back.

"Okay… Stop making fun of me and help me…. You could be done with this by night time."

"Oh yeah? Do you have anything else for me?"

"That should be everything for today."

"YOU ARE-" She was cut off by the telephone ringing.

"Mr. Lucas, Miss Kayli is here." The security guard that is by the gate said.

"What!? Okay, let her stay for a few moments." He said in panic before hanging up and standing up from his chair. "Kayli is here… She can't see you here!"

"What?! What are we gonna do?"

"Just hide here and I'll go make her stay away from the office… Alright? Just don't go outside."

"Do you have any more orders? What do I have to do with _your_ girlfriend?" Riley said with a scowl and Lucas huffed as he looked behind her through the clear glass door.

"She knows you too, Riley! Besides, you can't even imagine what kind of person Kayli is…. She'll cause a major problem is she's sees us in this room together! And it'll reach my mother as well!"

"OFFF! Fine!" Riley said with a huff and hurriedly hid behind a wall in the office that hid her from eyesight.

"Babe, what a beautiful surprise!" Lucas said as he opened the door but blocked her from getting in with his arm.

" _Babe, what a beautiful surprise!"_ Riley imitated him without actually making a sound.

"What's wrong, love? Were you in a meeting?" Kayli asked as she looked at the office.

"No… I was heading out to have lunch." He said with a shake of his head. "C'mon let's go together." He pushed her back slightly with his body as he got out of the office all while closing the door behind him. Kayli kept looking inside the office as he pushed her back.

"What did I do wrong in my life, God?" Riley said with a huff when they left. As she was standing, her phone started ringing. "Hey."

"Riley, where are you? I got worried." Maya said through the phone. In front of her, Miley and Farkle were sitting on one of the tables so she wanted to make sure that her friend doesn't see this.

"Don't ask, Maya… I'm stuck here at the manager's office."

"How? Wait for me… I'll come rescue you quickly."

"No… It's not that way… It was Lucas who called me to the office."

"He's here too?" Maya said in disbelief. **(AN; You know the way she told Josh 'You're three years older than me in this too?' in the Lucaya imagination/movie? That's how she said this too.)** Right then, she saw him walking towards Farkle's table with Kayli. "Lucas is coming here… Riley, I'm so confused…"

"He hid me here so that Kayli doesn't see us together…. You know that she thinks I'm Farkle's girlfriend…"

"Oh that's how it is… Alright, Pumpkin… I'll call you when they leave… I think staying where you are is for the best anyways."

"Why is it for the best?"

Maya face palmed herself. "I mean… take it as a break… I'm working so I need to hang up." She hanged up and went back to her work.

"Cousin? You don't come here often." Farkle said with a frown of confusion.

"I'll be here more often from now on."

"Why?"

"Because I work here." Lucas said simply with a smile while Farkle just looked at him.

"Hello, Miley." Kayli said with a fake smile.

"How are you, Kayli? Long time, no see." Miley replied and Kayli just gave a nod with a tight lipped smile.

"Have a seat…" Farkle said.

"No… We don't want to interrupt your talk." Lucas answered.

"No… We'll be happy to share our happiness." Miley said with a smile.

"Your happiness?" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Farkle and I are back together."

"That means that you made up… That's amazing." Kayli said while Lucas just grinned.

"Let's sit down then." Lucas said and they both took a seat, Lucas beside Farkle and Kayli beside Miley. "Congratulations, Cousin."

"Thank you, Lucas." Farkle said with a smile.

"Everything will be better now." Miley said which made Kayli giggle.

"That's very unfortunate." Kayli said with a smile.

"What is?" Miley asked.

"Oh I meant that time that passed when you two weren't together."

"Yeah but… I personally think that it made us appreciate each other more… At least I look at our relationship differently now." Miley said as she looked at Farkle before reaching over and holding his hand. "I look at it more seriously."

"That means that getting with other people when you weren't together really benefited you then." Kayli said and all their smiles got wiped away. Lucas looked at her with a scowl on his face.

"You're wrong, Kayli…. I wasn't with anyone when we were broken up." Miley replied with a smile, as if Kayli is not phasing her.

"Really? I'm the one that knows wrong then."

"What do you know, Kayli? I mean if you know something that we don't, then say it so that we all know it as well." Farkle said, getting sick of that conversation. "That is if you're sure of it."

"I don't know anything, love… I'm just guessing, that's all… I mean… In the end, you dated another girl while you two were broken up and I thought that Miley dated someone else too… Maybe as a rebound or something." Kayli explained.

"Nope, you're wrong." Miley said simply and Kayli gave her a nod with a smile.

 _What a liar! I gave you one last chance to tell him yourself… You fell into my own hands now._ Kayli thought to herself.

"I don't that that Farkle had anything serious with that girl." Miley said.

"Let's not talk about our private lives so openly, Miley… We'll talk later when we're alone." Farkle said and Miley nodded.

"I think that you shouldn't talk about that at all… It's all in the past now… What matters is that you're together again, right?" Lucas said, not wanting them to talk about Riley. Right then his phone, that was in front of him on the table, started ringing.

"Ah! Riley's calling… It's like the girl heard us talking about her." Kayli said after seeing the caller ID. "Answer the phone so that we see what she wants."

"What would she want?" Lucas asked.

"She'd want to make up with Farkle again… What else would she want?" Kayli answered simply.

"Um… No… Let's not answer that." Lucas said, growing uncomfortable.

"Like you said… It's all in the past now… Things like this don't upset me so… You can answer her call." Miley said with a nod. Lucas sighed and picked up his phone and answered the call right as she hanged up.

"He won't answer… Of course!" Riley said in frustration.

"She hanged up… Anyways, you'll have your engagement soon with the way things are."

"Miley refused my proposal last time but…" Farkle trailed off with a chuckle and Miley reached her hand across the table to hold his.

"A thousand times yes." She said with a smile. "It's your turn now… Don't sit back and relax until you have your rings around your fingers before the end of summer." Kayli smiled at Lucas expectantly while he just looked away from her with a sigh. "In the end, you guys are an even older couple than us."

"Just care about yourselves… The ring annoys me, I don't like having one around my finger." Lucas said playfully. "We're very happy like we are now."

Kayli looked down at her lap while Lucas grinned at her. Miley was looking at her with a hidden smirk.

Lucas couldn't care less about being engaged to her. He didn't know if the problem was Kayli… Or if he just doesn't care about getting married no matter who the girl is.

Maybe a certain girl could change that?

He didn't know, he was still waiting to meet the one that made him want to settle down and become a man, like his father always said.

Will he ever meet her though?

That's what he always wonders about.

* * *

 **Alright, another chapter is done. I'm so sorry that this took me more than a week to post… I don't know if the next chapter will take so long to be finished as well or not. Hopefully not.**

 **I've realized that I have less than two months left before my senior year starts and if I keep going with the story the way I have planned, I won't finish it before I start school and it'll have to go on Hiatus which I REALLY don't want. So I'm gonna need to cut a lot of the things I had planned for this story… For example, I'd planned that Kayli will be the biggest obstacle for our lovely couple… But I think I'm gonna cut out a few things from what she'll do. I have everything that should happen along the story listed in a notebook and it's gonna be very hard to put them all in AND finish this by the beginning of September. I'm hoping for the best though.**

 **About your reviews, don't worry,**

 **-Riley will ease up a little next chapter… you'll see the lovely/playful Rucas interactions that you guys seem to love. Also, you're finally getting** _ **thee**_ **confession I've been telling you about next chapter. Nothing is gonna be the same after that confession. Who is it gonna be?**

 **-Yeah, coincidences could be Fate's way of telling you something but our little Riley isn't aware of that yet or more like… Isn't admitting that yet. Lucas annoys the life out of her, how could she believe that he's her 'fate'?**

 **-No, Lucas isn't aware of the mothers' plans for getting them married. He knows that his parents want him and Kayli to get married but you could say that he's been prolonging it. We have some major problems coming his way because of that. And yes, it will be affecting Rucas.**

 **We don't have a new episode to talk about this time so this will just be it for now. I'm very sorry that there wasn't any cute/playful Rucas interactions this chapter but I'll make it up to you next chapter… Actually starting next chapter, We'll have more of the playful ones.**

 **I really hope that I get the opportunity to update because I don't know when I'll get access to the internet again.**

 **Anyways, don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to write them in your review or PM me with them.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneen.**


	24. Chapter 24: Tingles

"What did you do with Cathy today?" Minkus asked after a good few minutes of driving in silence.

"We talked a little bit about Lucas and Kayli… We're thinking that it'd be very good if we have an engagement by the end of this summer." Ella answered.

"You're right but…" Minkus said with a chuckle. "I don't know how Lucas is gonna look at that seriously… I don't know how he'll cope with it either."

Ella hummed for a few moments before nodding, "I also have my worries, what you said being two of them, but we'll have to wait and see what really happens…. Let's put that topic aside for now though… How's Caitlyn?"

"Well, when I arrived home she was in a much better mood than what her voice sounded like on the phone… She told me that nothing was wrong with her but it's very apparent that something _is_ bothering her…. She can't talk to me comfortably about everything, you know? Despite being so close to each other, she still hesitates before talking to me about some things…. Sometimes it feels like she doesn't trust me with them!"

"It's not that she doesn't trust you…. There are a few things that she'd rather say to a girl not a guy, let alone her father… As girls grow up, talking to their fathers about some things becomes a bit awkward." Ella explained with a smile.

"That must be it… I mean, Farkle and I talk about everything so freely and comfortably, man to man… But that doesn't happen with Caitlyn." Minkus said with a shrug. "Does she like someone or what? I don't know."

Ella hummed once again before smiling, "I understand her language and her age quite well, don't worry…. Let me talk to her, girl to girl, just to try and get her to talk… We might be able to know what's bothering her… Maybe I could help."

"That would be really good, honey." Minkus said and reached over to hold her hand lovingly. "Growing up, she's always needed a mother figure but I think now is the time she needs it the most… Caitlyn really needs the thoughts and advices of a perfect woman like you."

Ella smiled slightly, "I'll talk to her… Don't worry… Besides, tomorrow is her birthday… Let me call her and say happy birthday."

"Actually, I was going to invite you but… Even I am not invited…. The youngsters are gonna celebrate it alone… We're old people now as you know." Ella couldn't help but let out a laugh making him chuckle as well.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Riley, how are you, baby girl?"

"I'm okay, mum." Riley answered as she leaned her back against the wall, getting tired.

"How is your first day going?"

"It's going well, thankfully." She lied.

"You're not doing too much work, are you?"

"No, mum… Don't worry."

"Alright… I don't want to keep you busy… I wish you luck, baby girl." Topanga said and hanged up with a smile on her face.

Riley sighed and squatted down on the ground to rest a bit. "I lied to my mum more lies than I've ever lied to her in my entire life… only in one month! All because of that annoying, stupid Jerk!"

Topanga was just pouring hummus into a serving plate when Katy walked in. "Ahh, Katy!"

"Yes?"

"I was thinking about surprising Riley."

"What kind of surprise?"

"Her stuff from our house are in the storage room… What if I arrange them for her in the penthouse? Maybe she'll feel like she's at home even if it's for one bit."

"That's a very good idea, Topanga… Why are we still here? Let's go arrange things right now." Katy said with a grin and Topanga nodded with a grin as well.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Hey, babe." Josh greeted after answering the phone.

"Josh." Maya said with a smile, happy to be hearing his voice. "What are you doing? You didn't call me at all today…. Aren't you curious or worried about me?"

"Is it even possible for me not to be worried? I just didn't want to disturb you on your first day of work… How's the work going?"

"Very well… We're still getting used to it but it's going really well."

"I'm very happy to hear that." He said with a smile, even though she can't see him.

"So what are we doing? Are we gonna see other tonight?"

"Uhh… tonight?" He trailed off as he reached into his pocket and took out a 20$ bill. The only one in his four pockets. "I'm a little tired but um…"

"Don't be like that… We're going to celebrate my new job and have dinner… I'll pay as well since it's my celebratory dinner."

"Okay… When do you finish your shift?"

"At six… I'll text you."

"Alright, babe… Goodbye." He said before hanging up. He sighed in frustration as he looked at the 20$ bill before stuffing it back into his pocket in frustration and huffing. "It won't work like that… I have to find a job for myself as soon as possible…. Love or dating without money can only last for a certain limit…. I can't even see the girl as much as I want to." He said to himself before kicking a small rock that was on the ground as he walked.

Back at the club, both couples were done eating so Farkle spoke, "Let's get up since we finished eating… Let's go back to work." He looked at Lucas with a grin.

"Yeah… We have work to do… Kayli, what are you doing today?" Lucas said as he looked at her.

"I'm waiting to hear from my mom…. I'm supposed to be going with her to see our new house." Kayli answered and Farkle looked at her with his eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"Your new house?" He asked.

"Kayli and her mother are moving to the US." Lucas answered for her.

"Really? I'm happy to hear that." He said with a small smile.

"I am too… my dear brother." Kayli answered with a smile as well and he just nodded but it was Lucas' turn to frown in confusion.

"Brother?" Lucas asked.

"You're not aware of this…. My mom and Uncle Minkus have been together for a while now…. I also have to stop calling him uncle." Kayli said with a giggle.

"Really? For real?" Lucas asked with a grin.

"Really?" Miley asked with a smile as well.

"Yeah… Well that's a family secret now." Kayli said.

"Do my parents know about this?"

"Yeah." Farkle said with a nod.

"So I'm the last to know? Oh wow…" Lucas said and shook his head.

"We're gonna be relatives then." Miley said as she looked at Kayli.

"I'll be your husband's sister… you should know that." Kayli said with a smile.

"I think that they're the couple of the year! That suits my uncle really well." Lucas said with a happy, excited grin. Kayli nodded with a smile when her phone started ringing.

"Mom… Yeah, we just finished eating and were just about to get up… Alright… Send me the address in a text and I'll meet you there… Okay… Goodbye." She said before hanging up.

"I should congratulate my uncle then…" Lucas said.

"Let me congratulate you first, cousin! Where and when did you come up with the idea of working?" Farkle said.

"Where do you think? From my dear father… He told me to choose a job and take it and I choose working here because the place is more comfortable than the company."

"You go ahead and think so." Farkle said with a grin.

"What does that mean?"

"You probably don't know Mr. John, do you?"

"Of course I don't." He said with a chuckle.

"You'll know him after today." Farkle said with a nod and a small smile.

"My mom is waiting… Shall we get up?" Kayli said.

"Alright." Lucas said with a nod and they all stood up.

Back in Lucas' office, Riley raised her head up and rested it against the wall. She ran a hand through her hair and stood up.

"I can't take it anymore." She said to herself as she fixed her bangs, not wanting to mess up the way her side braid looked. "I'm leaving and I don't care what happens."

She walked out of the office and out of the section that was made for offices and into the fresh air. She was met with a sight that made her regret not listening to either Lucas or Maya when they told her not to come out until they tell her to. Lucas and Kayli were walking with Miley and Farkle behind them, hand in hand with grins on their faces. She felt her eyes water as she watched Farkle smiling at something that Miley said.

When Lucas spotted her, he hurriedly grabbed Kayli's arm and pulled her towards him, making her back towards Riley. Riley took the hint and hurriedly hid between a big paper statues of a football player.

"So… Where is your new house?" Lucas said, as to not make her feel suspicious as he snapped his eyes behind her to find Riley already hidden.

"I don't really know, babe… My mom will send me the address." She said with a smile.

"Oh… Well, I gotta go back to work so I can't drive you… How did you come here?"

"Your mother's driver brought me here…. He's waiting for me outside." Lucas nodded and she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye, babe."

"Do you have a car, baby?" Farkle asked Miley.

"Yeah."

"Alright… I have some work to do with Lucas… We'll talk on the phone later."

"Alright, Goodbye." She said and give him a kiss on each cheek. Both girls left and the guys headed towards the door where Riley was hiding behind the statues that is right by it.

"I didn't see Riley at the restaurant." Farkle said but what he didn't know was that he was in Riley's earshot. "I hope you didn't cause a disaster for the girl."

Lucas chuckled and shook his head. "Nope, she's in my office, helping me."

"Helping you?" Farkle asked with a frown of confusion. "As far as I know, she started working at the restaurant."

"Well, that's what happened today." Lucas said with a smile.

"Look, Lucas… I promised Riley that she'll be comfortable here and she accepted the job according to that promise." Farkle said, making a small smile appear on Riley's face while a scowl took place on Lucas'.

"What do you mean, cousin?"

"What I mean is the following; Leave the girl alone…. Let her do her job comfortably."

"When did you start working as a personal bodyguard for Riley?" Lucas didn't know why but Farkle's protectiveness over Riley, annoyed him so much. He didn't like anybody feeling protective over her except for him.

"Since I promised her." Once again, Riley smiled at his words.

"Are you gonna protect her from me? I couldn't understand."

"Riley is very naïve and she's a very nice girl that is so pure on the inside." Farkle said. "Don't play with her…. Go and find yourself another way of entertainment." Lucas gave him a tight smile and shook his head.

"My pure hearted cousin… Trust me, staying away from Riley is not possible from now on." Lucas said with a chuckle and Farkle frowned in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because we live in the same house." Lucas said simply with a shrug.

"What? How?! Since when?!" Farkle exclaimed in disbelief and Riley scowled, not liking the fact that Lucas told him this.

"Riley and her mother are staying at our penthouse… her mother is our new cook."

"I can't believe it!"

Lucas nodded as if to say that he can't either, "Her mother started working for us while we were in Miami."

"I'm so surprised to hear this…"

"Yeah, tell me about it." Lucas said with another chuckle.

"Anyways… You'll treat Riley more carefully now that she's in your house." Lucas' smile got wiped away and he looked away from Farkle. "Anyways…. We're celebrating Caitlyn's birthday at our house tomorrow… You and Kayli are going to come."

"Wasn't the party at Ian's restaurant?"

"I prepared a surprise party at our house for her… Caitlyn doesn't know about it." Sensing that the talk about her is done, Riley turns around and heads back into the building and towards Lucas' office and a few moments later, he made his way into his office.

"What took you so long?!" She exclaimed in annoyance.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me in here? You almost got caught!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright… Can I leave now or do I need to keep hiding longer?"

"Of course you can leave." He said in annoyance and she left without sparing him another glance which boiled his blood even more.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"It's very beautiful!" Ella said as her and Minkus made their way back into the living room after looking at the entire house.

"I liked a lot too." Minkus said with a nod.

"Kayli will like it as well."

"I'll talk to the landlord then and we'll buy it." He said happily but Ella's smile turned into a frown.

"We? _We_ 'll buy it?" Minkus nodded in confusion. "No… No, I don't want you to do something like that for me… I came here because I thought that this house was for rent… I'm sorry but I can't accept this."

"This will be an investment for me, Ella."

"Minkus… We both know that you wouldn't have even considered buying this house if I wasn't gonna live here… I really can't accept this… You can't buy me this house at the mean time… If they're not planning on renting it, then there's no need for us to be here any longer." Ella said and turned around and started heading towards the front door but Minkus grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Ella… Why don't you allow me to do anything for you?" He said softly as he stared into her eyes. They kept staring into each other's eyes until Ella's phone started ringing.

"Kayli's father is calling… I'm sorry, I have to answer this… I've been trying to reach him for a few days." Minkus nodded and turned around before leaning his back against a wall as she walked a bit farther to talk. "Where are you? Cuba!" She gave a sarcastic giggle at his answer. "I wonder what you're doing there… On vacation! Of course you're on vacation, what else could it be… Of course I wasn't worried… As you know, Kayli is on her summer vacation from college and she's been trying to reach you for a few days to plan something out with you so when are you thinking about calling her?" She stayed quiet for a few moments, listening to what he's saying. "No, I can't tell her… You call her yourself and tell her…. No, don't hang up… Don't hang-"

She threw her phone on the dining table that she was leaning on after he'd hanged up on her. Minkus made his way towards her and rubbed her arms from behind lovingly and soothingly, trying to get her to relax.

"He's not planning on coming back until the end of summer… How am I going to say this to Kayli?"

"Shush… It's okay… Calm down, honey… Calm down…" He kept rubbing her arms until she took a deep breath and turned around to look at him.

"I'm really sad that you had to hear this." She said apologetically.

"Why don't you allow me to help you? Ella, please trust me a little bit…"

"Of course I trust you, Minkus!" She said before wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Let's buy this house then." He said and she pulled away from the hug and gave him a warning glare. "You can pay me the rent if you insist… Like… one hundred kisses per month." That got her to let out a laugh. "That's not much right? I say one thousand kisses per month is better." She smiled at him and he leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips before pulling her into a hug again.

* * *

Back at the club, Riley didn't even get a free minute. She was busy serving table after table, bringing orders to tables then taking empty dishes from other tables. She was very tired to say the least. Lucas on the other hand, didn't try to give work a second chance and instead, kept playing on his iPad with his legs propped against his desk.

Luckily, it was already a few minutes to six so Riley was doing her last serving for the day.

"Riles… I'm leaving, Josh called and he's outside… Do I wait for you?" Maya said.

"No, Peaches… You go ahead and leave." Riley said with a tired smile and gave Maya a hug.

Back in Lucas' office, he locked his iPad before taking his phone and stood up. "That's more than enough for today… Her shift is probably over." He made his way towards his door just as Mr. John, the employee that his father was talking to on the phone this morning, opened the door and walked into the office. "Ah, Mr. John… I was just going out."

"I think that means that you finished your work." Mr. John said with a small smile. He was a man in his late forties but he had the looks that intimidated people.

"Well, I can't say that I… finished it completely."

"Let me take a look at what you got finished then." He walked past him and sat down on Lucas' desk chair before checking the files.

"Um… I'll finish it tomorrow." Lucas said when he felt like Mr. John wasn't impressed.

"I asked you to finish arranging these files alphabetically today." Mr. John stood up and walked towards Lucas. "I'm sorry but you can't leave before finishing your work."

"I can't leave?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, you can't leave."

"Oh yeah? How are you gonna stop me? I can't understand."

"I won't stop you… I'll just call your father and inform him with the current situation." Mr. John took out his phone from his pocket.

"Are you serious?" Lucas asked nervously.

Mr. John shrugged, "Mr. Joseph has very strict orders."

"Oh… So you can't cover for me…" Mr. John shook his head. "You can't… Alright… There's nothing to do then, do what is necessary… have a good evening." With that, he walked out of the door just as his phone started ringing. "Hey, mum."

"Lucas… How's your first day at work going?" His mother said in a whisper.

"It's going good, mum."

"So there is no problem, right?"

"No, mum… There is no problem."

"Ah, thank God." She said with a giggle. "Because your father and I made a bet a little while ago… He said, and I quote, 'You'll see, he won't endure it for even one day and Mr. John is going to call soon' and I told him, 'You don't my son, you take him very lightly and you'll see how he'll embarrass you and do well in his job.'… Thank God, it looks like I won… Honey, don't let your father know that I called you, alright? I'm calling you behind his back to encourage you a bit…. Ah, ah… He's coming! I have to hang up, baby boy. Bye!" She let out a few giggles after hanging up. "Ah! I should've been an actress! I acted really well!"

When she heard another chuckle, she jumped in her place and turned around to face her husband.

"My dear Cathy… What are you aiming for again?" He shook his head with a chuckle and gave her a hug.

Lucas made his way back into his office in defeat with his head hanged low. "We were arranging these files alphabetically, weren't we?"

"Yes." Mr. John said with a nod and made way for him to sit down on his chair. "Good luck." With that, he left the guy alone in his office. Lucas opened a file and looked at it before closing it once again.

"Nope, I can't do this by myself at all." He huffed and looked at the stack of folders in front of him before taking his phone and dialing a number.

"What is it? What do you want?" Riley said right when she answered. She'd just finished her shift and now she was back in her normal clothes, the pair of high wasted off-white shorts along with the floral crop top and unbuttoned jean shirt and pink lace up oxfords, ready to leave to catch the last bus of the day that passes by the club.

"I'm your boss, girl… So watch the way you talk to me."

Riley rolled her eyes, "Pardon, I forgot that you're my boss… What can I do for you, Mr. Lucas."

"Come to my office."

"Don't order me." She said sharply.

It was Lucas' turn to roll his eyes now, "Will you come?"

"What happened? What do you want?" She asked in annoyance and Lucas sighed.

"Will you please come to my office?"

Riley huffed and muttered a, "Fine." Before hanging up and heading to his office. She knocked on his door and got inside before crossing her arms over her chest.

"What is it? What do you want?" She repeated her questions from earlier. "Hurry up or else I'll miss the bus."

"Where are you going?"

"What do you mean where? I'm going home, duh! I'm probably not going to sleep here." Lucas huffed and banged his head against his desk.

"I'll probably stay here until tomorrow morning at this rate."

"Oh, well… Good luck with your work." She turned around and was about to open the door when he spoke again.

"What is going to happen if you just help me?"

"Excuse me, I'm tired plus my mum is going to get worried if I go home late." She said simply as she went back towards his desk.

"Okay then, we'll call her from here and inform her." Riley shook her head simply and Lucas huffed. "Okay, I get it… You can't do my work even for once, can you?"

"What the hell? What did I do for a few HOURS ago just so that your girlfriend doesn't catch you? You're such an ungrateful jerk, Lucas!" She exclaimed in anger.

"Alright, alright… You can leave… Leave me with this alone."

"Good evening." She said before walking out of his office as he looked after her in disbelief.

"She's the only girl that can take my begging like that and not be phased." He said to himself before a tiny smile came to his face. It lasted a few moments before he shook his head and picked up a folder.

Riley walked out of the club and stood in front of it, looking for the bus. She stood for about a minute before going back towards the security guard.

"Excuse me, when will the bus come?"

"The last bus came a few minutes ago… The bus station is a bit far… There are still a few employees in the management section so you should check if someone has a car to give you a drive."

"Okay, thank you." She said and gave him a small smile before leaning her back on the opposite wall. "Am I stuck here?" She said to herself before sighing. "I'll go help him then." She took her phone out of her bag and dialed her mother's number. "Mum… No, I'm still at work… I'll be a little late, mum… I'm not done with my work yet… No, don't worry, I'm the one who asked for the night shift for today… No, I'm not tired, don't worry… okay… Bye."

She hanged up and slipped her phone back into her bag before opening his door and going inside. She hanged her bag on the back of one of the chairs by his desk and sat down. All the while, he was looking at her with a smile on his face.

"You couldn't leave me alone, could you?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course not… I missed the last bus because you kept me here for too long." She explained in annoyance.

"Whatever it is, I don't care… You're here now, and I'm very happy." He said softly, his smile getting bigger. Riley's eyes snapped towards him and she almost got lost in the magic of his smile. She felt a weird feeling in the bit of her stomach that she couldn't really put a label to and her heart started beating a bit faster. They kept looking into each other's eyes before Lucas finally broke eye contact. "I mean… We have a lot of work to do… You'll help me, right?"

"What else can I do? I have to," She said with a scowl. "…Boss." Lucas chuckled and shook his head.

"Anyways, come and sit here… Let me tell you what you'll do." He said and stood up from his desk chair and Riley stood up from her chair as well. She made her way around the desk and sat down in his chair and pushed it towards the desk a bit more.

"Okay, let's start." She said with a smile and clapped her hands excitedly. Lucas put his hand on the back of her chair to lean on it and bend down a little. That made his head be a few inches away from hers.

"Now, let's arrange those files alphabetically…." He trailed off. He had gotten even closer to her so he was met by the overwhelming scent of vanilla, which he guessed was her perfume, and strawberries. He turned his head slightly to look at her and when she felt his eyes on her, she slowly turned her head. They stared at each other, now the space between their heads is barely there. Lucas' eyes fell down to her lips and he just kept staring at them, dying to actually kiss her again. Riley's also fell to his lips very briefly until a smile slowly crept up his face so she turned her head away and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. Lucas finally snapped out of it and continued on as if nothing had happened, "I already started anyways… I've reached the letter C."

Riley let out a giggle and looked at him and he was once again mesmerized by her beauty, "Don't act as if the letter C is the letter Y or something… You're still in the 3rd letter."

"No, you can do it." He said with a grin. "We'll reach the letter Y before it's too late in night."

"Alright… Then you submit the names into the computer while I arrange those, C'mon."

"Alright, Boss!" He said playfully and went to get his laptop along with a chair to sit on. He opened his laptop after sitting down beside Riley.

"Write after me, darling." She said in a serious tone but she had a smirk on her face. Lucas scowled and looked at her with a glare but the she cracked up and giggled. "Why are you looking at me like that? Hurry up!"

Lucas smiled and together they started working, Riley arranging the files while Lucas submitted them into the computer.

"So you didn't tell me…. How was your first day?" Lucas asked after about an hour has passed.

"Well… It went very well for the first day… Keeping away the fact that I had to hide for an hour in here." She said with a giggle as she gathered her hair up into a bun. She'd taken it out from the French side braid it was in because it was hurting her head. Lucas watched her as she wrapped it around into a bun before sticking a pencil into it to hold it in place.

"Yeah about that… I'm so sorry… I just know how Kayli is."

"Nah, its okay… I was a bit annoyed with you first, but I guess you do have a strong reason." She said with a smile and he smiled back at her before they both went back to they were doing.

Another hour passed and Lucas was playing with his pencil while he waited for the file to be submitted when it fell to the ground. He looked up at the bright yellow pencil that was in Riley's head and smirked. He pulled it out from her bun, making her hair fall down on her back.

"Hey!" She exclaimed as she looked at him to find him grinning while looking down at the file in his hand and writing something down. He looked at her and she finally smiled before taking another pencil and putting it between her lips as she gathered her hair into another bun. She gave Lucas a warning glare as she stuck the pencil into her bun.

About a half hour later, Lucas huffed and sat back in his chair. "I'm tired… Let's take a break."

"What break are you talking about? We have to hurry up, not take a break… C'mon, don't give up."

"Don't give up? You're very funny, Riley." He said with a chuckled and she smiled shyly. "I really can't continue… This place is nagging me." He stood up from his chair and stretched for a few moments. "I'm not used to being in one place for a long time… I feel suffocated and trapped." He starts walking around the office.

"I know what I can do for you." Riley said after a few moments of silence. She started gathering the folders she was working on and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Follow me… Get your laptop as well and come with me, C'mon!" She said and took another folder before heading out of the office and waiting for him. He took his phone and laptop and headed out with her. She led him towards the tennis tracks which had a few tables beside it with sofas for people who want to watch their kids practicing. "Look… We'll work here." She said as she put down the folders carefully onto the table. "You probably won't get bored here."

"That was a very good idea… You did well! Good job!" Lucas said and sat down on the L-shaped couch beside her.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"I'm starting to like you." He said seriously with a smile.

"C'mon, let's continue our work." She opened the folder she was working on but she felt Lucas' eyes still on her so she nervously looked up at him. She found him staring at her with a small smile on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason… You just look very beautiful." He found himself saying and her cheeks grew red. She looked down at her lap shyly.

"Um… C'mon, let's continue." She said nervously and took his laptop from on the table. "Tell me the names and I'll type them into the laptop."

"Mason…" He started telling her the names of the members since they'd already finished arranging their files alphabetically. After a few minutes, Lucas picked up his phone to check something when Riley snatched it out of his hand.

"You can't be on your phone now, Lucas! Wait until we finish and then you can play on it as much as you want." She said sternly with a scowl.

"It's a good thing that you're not my boss." Lucas said with a chuckle.

"Lucas." She said in a warning tone. "C'mon."

"Alright… Write after me, darling." He said, imitating her words from earlier.

"I'm writing." His phone started ringing so she handed it to him.

"Yes, dad?"

"Where are you, Lucas?"

"At the club, dad… I'm working." Lucas said with a frown of confusion.

"At the club? This late? Working!"

"I can't satisfy you, can I?" Lucas said with a chuckle.

"Son, you never go to work and if you do, you don't come back home because of work… Isn't there somewhere in the middle for you?"

"Alright, dad… I'll come home after I'm done working… Don't worry."

"Alright… Good luck… Bye." Joseph looked at his phone in disbelief before putting it back on the coffee table. "He's working…. He's coming…"

"He's working, isn't he? Didn't you say that he can't work?" Cathy said.

"He's working but… You'll see… Tomorrow he definitely won't go to work… I'm ready to bet on whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" Cathy asked as she sat up.

"Anything you want."

She nodded and sat back into the sofa and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, Joseph… Alright."

"My mum must be very worried..." Riley said a few moments after Lucas hanged up with his dad. "I told her that I'll be late but it's already five minutes to nine."

"We're almost done… By the way, I don't know what I would've done without you…. Thank you… Thanks a lot." He said softly.

"You're welcome." She said with the same softness. "But this is the last time!"

He nodded and kept looking at her softly as he spoke. "Alright… C'mon, let's leave… I was gonna suggest driving you home but…"

She let out a giggle and nodded. "Yeah, that is a little weird… But… I can get off somewhere close to the house." She suggested and he smiled with a nod so they started gathering the folders again. Riley stood up and took the pencil out of her bun and shook her hair a bit as she walked before flipping her hair to the side. They headed into his office and left the folders on his desk. Riley took her bag and they both headed out towards Lucas' car that was in the garage before heading home.

"You probably won't call me again since you learned how work is done." Riley said after a few minutes of driving in silence.

"That won't happen again anyways." Lucas said with a smile.

"Alright, I'm happy to hear that."

"Because I don't think that I'll work… I mean, I can't take this routine every day… I got very tired."

"As if you carried giant rocks!" Riley said in disbelief. "How spoiled! What happened that you got so tired that you won't come again?!"

"My dad keeps talking as if everything is easy… No, son, work… Have some responsibilities… Do this, do that… I mean… I'll work when the time come… What's the point in pressuring myself right now?"

"How will you know when the time comes?" Riley asked and he sighed, not knowing what answer he should say. "Life is very simple to you… but you can lose everything you have in a matter of a seconds… It won't be as easy then." Lucas looked at her briefly before looked back at the road, noticing her somewhat sad tone. "I lived a very easy life before the death of my father… I didn't have to work… But in a matter of seconds… Everything changed… I had to be strong to face the responsibilities of life… I had to be responsible of things, people my age didn't even think about… Because I didn't have a father to think about me and work for my sake anymore… My mother and I faced everything on our own…. And we're still standing on our own two feet until now."

"I'm very sad to hear that… That must've been hard." He said softly.

She gave him a small smile, "But your father is doing what is god for you… He's doing everything he can so that you don't stumble and fall down when you become alone and so that you keep standing on your own two feet… I think you're very lucky… You have everything… You just need to work to keep that."

"When you say that… I see that my father is right in some things of course…"

"I got to know you family a little bit… They're very kind and very nice… You really are very lucky."

"Thank you… They're very nice." He said as he looked at her.

"I think you should know their value and appreciate them…" He looked at her with a small smile and that was the last thing they said until they reached the compound. A few feet away from the house, Riley spoke. "Let me get off here… I'll continue the rest of the way on foot."

"Alright." He said and stopped the car. Riley unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to open the door when Lucas found himself grabbing her arm and stopping her. He kept looking at her, not knowing why he stopped her or what he wants from her. He just kept looking at her while holding her arm as she looked back at him waiting for his next action. "Thanks again, Riles…" She gave him a small smile. She didn't know why but her arm had tingles from his hold. He took his hand away and the tingles were gone. "Walk in front of me… I'll go in after you… Its late right now… just to be sure that nothing happens to you."

Riley nodded and got out of the car. As promised, he watched her until she was safely through their gate before driving the car through the gate a few minutes after her.

"I'm back." Riley said as she walked through the door.

"Riley! I almost got a heart attack from worry!" Topanga said as she hurriedly stood up from the couch and made her way towards Riley.

"Mum… Why did you worry yourself so much? I told you that I was going to be late."

"You did, baby girl… but you know that I get scared when it gets dark… Anything got happen to you when it's dark."

"Mum…" Riley said and gave her a quick hug. "Calm down, please… I'm right in front of you, nothing happened to me."

"Alright… You'll understand me when you become a mother." Riley smiled. "Riley… I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise!?"

"Yes…" Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the bedroom. Riley found her bed sheets changed into her favorite ones as well as the bed covers. The walls were decorated with some of her framed paintings hanging on it and by the door, her desk was placed along with her pink desk chair. Her painting notebook was place on the desk and some of her small paintings were scattered across the desk. Her painting supplies along with her small lamp we also placed on the desk along with a photograph of her as kid with her father and a photograph of her alone and another one of her with her mother a few years ago.

"Did you know that I couldn't hold a paper and pencil?"

"I know…" Topanga said and gave her cheek a kiss. "Riles… Maybe now you'll like this place a bit more… and get used to it more…."

"Every place you're in is my home, mum." Riley said with a smile. "You are my home, mum." She gave her a tight hug. "You made me very happy! Thank you!"

Topanga patted her back before pulling away, "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm not… I'll just get some rest and sleep."

Topanga nodded and took her bag from her. "How did your day go?"

"It went very well." Riley said with a nod and her mother left her to change.

Back in the house, Lucas made his way into the living room where his parent were with a smile on his face. "Hey."

"Welcome home, sweetie!" Cathy said while Joseph just stared at him. Lucas gave his mother a grin and a nod.

"Welcome home, son! How was work?" Joseph said.

"It was very good." Lucas said with a grin and a nod.

"It was good!?" Joseph asked in disbelief and Lucas just nodded.

"Anyways, excuse me… I'm going to go to bed early… As you know, I have work tomorrow so I have to get up early." His mother was confused with his change of behavior but she said nothing.

"What? How? Are you going to work tomorrow?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah… Why are you surprised, dad? You were very right… It's time for me to carry some responsibilities… It's even a bit late now… It's not predictable what life might bring for us… We have to be ready for every possibility so that nothing or no one brings us down." Lucas said with a smile and looked at his parents' shocked faces. "Anyways, good night."

Joseph and Cathy kept looking at the place he was standing in even after he left the room before looking at each other.

"Was that Lucas? My son?" Joseph asked in disbelief. Cathy just giggled.

"I'm still shocked!" She said with a hand over her mouth.

 ***AN; Alright so for this, we going back to the *Happening to both* kind of scenario you guys are used to… You guessed it, the day's events playing like a movie on the ceiling lol***

Riley made her way back into the room after having washed her body and changed into her PJs which were a pair of black wide legged pajama pants and a white pajama shirt that had a black tiger face on it. She stood in front of the dresser and took of her earrings. She looked at her mirror and grinned at the day's events.

Lucas walked into his room after changing into a pair of shorts and slipped on a blue V-neck. A small smile came to his face as he remembered Riley.

They both laid down on their beds with smiles on their faces. And as it usually happened after their day together, they started remembering everything that has happened to them today involving each other.

Riley found herself remembering their kiss. She honestly thought that he was going to do that when he grabbed her arm in the car since he stared at her lips for way too long at the office. She didn't know whether she was relieved or sad that he didn't kiss her though.

Her hand went up to where his hand was when he was holding her arm and she smiled even more. _Why did it feel tingly when he was holding it? He wasn't hurting me or anything… the tingles felt good_. She thought to herself. _Why do I feel good when I see him smiling at me?_ She tossed and turned in her bed as she thought and her mind went back to everything that has happened between them since their first meeting.

 _What's so special about her? Just getting a whiff of her scent drives me crazy… Why? I never felt this way with any other girl_. Lucas thought to himself as he also tossed in his bed. _I can't seem to stop thinking about her… even when I'm with Kayli, I think about her… What is wrong with me?_

They both got up from their beds with a sigh and headed out of their rooms.

"Cathy… I'm still surprised with what Lucas said until now." Lucas heard his father saying so he decided to eavesdrop.

"But I told you that my son can do it, honey." Cathy said.

"I can't tell you how proud I felt while looking at him a while ago…. I told myself… That's how my son should be!" Lucas smiled, happy that he made his father proud.

"Really?" Cathy asked and Joseph nodded. "I'm very happy, Joseph."

"But please don't tell him that…"

"But why not? He'll be happy… very happy!" Lucas sighed quietly. "Joseph, why don't you share your feeling with him a bit? Like your love, how much you care about him, how proud you are of him…"

"Actually, what you're saying is right… I'm just not used to it…" Cathy gave him a sympathetic smile. "Come one… I'm also very tired and I feel very sleepy… Shall we go to sleep?" Cathy gave him a nod and they both stood up. Lucas hid away from their sight until they walked away from eyesight. He then headed into the kitchen, barefoot, and opened the fridge to look for something to eat.

Riley also made her way into the kitchen and when they saw each other, they couldn't help but smile.

"Did you also feel hungry?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah… but I can come back later." She said and turned around to leave.

"Make us sandwiches to eat them." Lucas said with a smirk as he closed the fridge. Riley turned back around and looked at him.

"I'll make them?!"

"Of course." He said with a shrug which earned him a glare from Riley. _And I thought I felt something for this jerk!_ She thought to herself.

She huffed, "An order at work and another at home… Alright." She said in defeat.

"Alright, look, I'll make them… But it's my first try so making fun of me if it's a fail is a complete no, alright?" Riley nodded with a smile. "Alright, take out the plates then."

Riley nodded and headed towards the cupboard where they kept the plates while Lucas took out the tomatoes out of the fridge and went towards her to get out a knife. Because the cupboard was very high, Riley had to tiptoe to reach the plate and when she took hold of one, it was about to fall if it wasn't for Lucas' hand that held it just in time. The action made him very close to Riley and they stared at each other as they both held the plate that almost got smashed on Riley's head. They both looked away as Lucas reached up and took another plate while Riley headed towards the kettle.

She made some tea while Lucas made them two turkey sandwiches. He laid the lettuce on the bread before adding the tomato slices and cheese, then added the turkey and another layer of lettuce.

"I hope we don't get caught." Riley said as she poured the hot water into the tea cups and took them to the kitchen table.

"Don't worry, I've got my eyes on the door… I'll quickly hide you." He said with a grin.

"You're the best when it comes to hiding anyways." She said playfully and headed towards the high cupboard that was still opened. She jumped up and closed it.

"The sandwiches are ready." Lucas said as he laid them in the plates after cutting them in half.

"And the tea is also ready." She said as she went to the table and sat down as he put her plate in front of her with her two halves in it.

"We've become a very great team at work and at home as well." He said as he sat down on the chair next to hers.

"Definitely." She said with a giggle. Lucas gave her a smile before they both took a bite of their sandwiches. Riley hummed as she chewed on it. "You really surprised me."

Lucas swallowed before answering, "With what?"

"The sandwich is very delicious."

Lucas chuckled, "Thank you."

They kept eating in silence while sneaking glances at each other. They finished their first half and took a bite of their second when Riley felt eyes on her.

Lucas had been staring at her for about two minutes with a smile on his face. She looked at him and gave him a smile before taking another bite of her sandwich and deciding that that's enough, risking being caught that is. She took one last sip of her tea.

"Anyways… I should head back to my room before I get caught." She said and stood up from the chair where Lucas once again grabbed her arm/elbow.

"Riley." He said and stood up as well. The tingles came back again as he kept his hold on her arm while looking at her. She didn't meet his eyes. He once again didn't know why he stopped her from leaving. He knew what he wanted to do but was it right? He sighed and was about to speak when she cut him off.

"What happened again? What do you want?" She said, not looking into his emerald eyes. Lucas raised his other hand and slowly laid it on her small waist before slowly and gently pulling her towards him. Riley looked up at him in surprise but was even surprised with how close they were. Their noses were almost touching when she looked up so she looked down at his chest instead. She looked up at him with her eyes and found his eyes on her lips, and her eyes fell to his.

When he finally spoke, she could swear that her heart stopped for a moment or… Ten!

Very softly he said,

"Maybe I already like you a lot… Isn't that possible?"

* * *

 **WOOOOHOOOOO! The confession is done!**

 **I'm evil for leaving you hanging like this right? But you should've guessed that I'll leave you with a cliffhanger… Don't I always do that with important Rucas moments?**

 **The internet here sucks so I can't watch GM I Do but I already have an idea on how it is… By far, nothing has topped Ski Lodge 2 for me whether it was an old episode or new. I don't think any episode will though but we'll see.**

 **Since I can't discuss the show for now, let's talk about how it's possible that it'll be canceled. Guys, I wish I were in the US or something to send a letter like most GMW fans are doing but if you can send a letter then please do! Do relay on the Hashtags and tweets, they're not effective, the letters are!**

 **Also, fun thing, I went to the Egyptian National Circus the day before yesterday (Wednesday) and I saw this very cute guy, that turned out to be one of the performers that did a very risky performance. The show is a two-hour show and his part was in the last half hour so for the entire 2 hours (A half hour before the show started) He was staying across from me and he literally didn't take his eyes off of me… I was very flustered especially because he was like… very cute and he gave me such a cute smile! Even while performing, he'd look at me every once in a while and smile. He was so cute… I literally missed half of the show cause I kept glancing at him… He even came out after me and watched me until I got into the car and came into the Arena when I went inside (He was sitting in the cafeteria on the table in front of mine). He's all I can think about since then and I've been searching for him all over Instagram and Facebook and all I found was a video of him that someone took while he was performing a few weeks ago. How sad is it that I'm crushing on someone I'll probably never see again? I just want to have his account… that's all I want.**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter… It was very Rucas filled, wasn't it?**

 **Once again, I don't know when next chapter will be up so we'll have to see about that.**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what your favorite part was and what you think Riley's reaction will be.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	25. Chapter 25: He likes you!

"Maybe I already like you a lot… Isn't that possible?" Lucas said as he stared right into her eyes. Riley looked at him softly, not knowing what to say or if she can say anything for that matter. Lucas gave her a warm smile that literally made her knees go weak but all she could feel other than her knees going week was the tingles that were coming from where his hands were laying, on her waist, and the flutter in her heart along with the butterflies in her stomach.

Lucas was just about to pull her closer when they her heard her mother's voice calling from the hallway. Riley hurriedly got out of his grasp and stood away from him. She ran a hand through her hair nervously while Lucas headed towards the dish washer, pretending to be looking for something.

"Mr. Lucas!" Topanga said as she looked at the pair.

Lucas gave her a nervous smile, "Uh…. I… um… I was hungry…"

"What should I make for you?" Topanga asked.

"No, thank you… I already had something to eat." Lucas said with the same nervous smile. Riley looked at him and gestured with her head towards the door, telling him to leave. "And I was going to my room… Good night."

"Good night." Topanga said and he gave her a nod before leaving the mother and daughter alone in the kitchen. Topanga waited until Lucas was completely out of the kitchen before looking at her daughter with somewhat of a glare on her face.

"Mum… I got up and came here for a glass of water and Mr. Lucas was hungry-" Riley tried to explain.

"You can't Riley! You shouldn't have entered the kitchen if you saw him in here! Honey… You should try your best to avoid being alone with him… Mrs. Cathy could've came to the kitchen as well and caught you two."

"You're right, Mum… I couldn't think."

"Riley, please don't be the topic of their talk with me… I promised them that no problems are gonna happen… Please."

"Alright… I'll be more careful, mum… Don't worry." Riley said as she looked down at her feet.

"Alright, baby girl… Let's go to bed." Riley nodded and they both headed back to the penthouse. Riley went to the bathroom as her mother went back to bed. She splashed her face with some cold water before heading back into the room to find her mother in deep sleep. She sat down on her bed and hugged her minion tightly to her chest as she thought.

 _No, Honey… It's not possible…. Or is it?_ She thought to herself as she recalled his words to her. _What would happen if it is indeed possible? Ha, what does he even know about feelings? Look at what he said even though he has a freaking girlfriend! His girlfriend is a bitch but still, he isn't loyal to her? He's probably making fun of me… What a jerk!_ She huffed and looked out the window.

"Riley?" Her mother broke her train of thoughts and she snapped her head towards her. "Why aren't you asleep, baby girl? You're waking up early tomorrow… you should sleep."

"Alright, Mum… I'll sleep." Riley said with a nod and laid down in bed.

In Lucas' room, he was laying down in his bed while looking up at the ceiling with a small smile on his face.

"What the hell did you do?" Lucas mumbled to himself but his smile only got bigger. "You did well."

The night turned into morning, and Riley was done getting ready so she tiptoed towards her dresser to get her bag, but she ended up knocking over her jewelry box and waking her mother in the process.

"Riley!" Her mother exclaimed in fear after hearing the noise and sat up in bed quickly. She hurriedly hurried towards her daughter. "What happened, baby?"

"Nothing, mum… I'm going to work a bit early today."

"Aren't you going to have breakfast?"

"No… I'll have something to eat at work." Topanga slipped on her slippers and looked at her daughter worriedly.

"Riley… Did what I said last night upset you? Is it why you're leaving the house early like that?"

"No, mum… It didn't upset me." Topanga gave her an unsure look, not believing her, "I swear to god that it didn't… I'll be more careful from now on, don't worry."

"My little wise baby…. I know you, Riley…. And I know that you wouldn't do anything wrong. It's just that Mrs. Cathy is very sensitive when it comes to anything that has to do with her son."

"What? What the hell would we do to her son?" Riley asked, her eyebrows frowned in anger.

"Not because we'd do anything for her son, baby girl, but… I don't know."

"Okay… I get it." Riley said with a nod. "I never brought you trouble before, and I will never do, Mum… Don't worry." Topanga gave her a nod and hugged her goodbye. Riley sat down on the couch by the door and slipped on her pair of mint green converse as a pop of color to her outfit. She was wearing a pair of blue jean shorts and a white graphic T-shirt that has writing on it in mint green. She took her bag and left the penthouse, after checking that the coast is clear.

She walked until she reached the gate of the house and slowly turned around and looked at the mansion-like house sadly. She shook her head before turning around and calling Maya, wanting to see her before they go to the club.

Just as Riley left the house, Lucas' alarm went off and he opened his eyes with a groan. He sat up in his bed after turning it off. Memories of the night before came back to his smile, bringing a soft smile to his face.

"I wonder if she's awake…" He said to himself. He shook his head with a smile and typed a new message on his phone and sent to her. After staring at it for a few seconds, he decided to get up and take a shower. He took extra care of himself while showering, wanting to impress her even it's with how clean he looks. His little shower/pamper session included shaving the little stubble he had that was potentially going to be a beard.

"No…. No, I can't wear this today, of all days…" He said to himself as he stared at the hanged hot pink button up. "She'll make fun of because she'll think that I'm trying to grab attention." He shook his head before hanging it back in his closet. He started looking for something else until he decided on a dark ice-green button up that had very, very tiny white dots on it. He stared at it before giving a nod of approval then taking out his mobile phone. "She hasn't read it yet…. Could she possibly be sleeping until now?"

He slipped on his shirt and paired it with a pair of white jeans and black vans. He fixed his hair and applied a few sprays of perfume before heading out of his room, towards the garden, to join his parent for breakfast.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Well, I don't see where the big deal is, you- WAIT HE DID WHAT!?" Maya exclaimed after Riley had told her what happened the night before. "Wait… let me get this straight… He kept asking _you_ to help him… then you two stayed together at club until late at night and he was very nice to you that he even gave you a ride home… Then _he_ made _you_ a sandwich?" Riley gave a nod. "That guy likes you."

"Well… He actually said that."

"What?!" Maya said in surprise. "What did he say?!"

"He said that he likes me." Riley confirmed Maya's prior statement.

"Man, who do I know these things?" Maya asked excitedly.

"Yeah, Maya… How do you know? I really don't understand."

"Doesn't matter now… How did he tell you?"

"I don't know! He said it so clear though…. Like, no going around the bushes…"

"You're killing him, Riles…. I mean, how did he say it? Did he hold your hand? Did he stare into your eyes? Most importantly, did you feel your heart beat?" Maya explained to her seemingly clueless friend. "Did he say it softly, almost in a whisper or was he loud and clear?"

Riley stared at her friend for a few moments, "I don't, Maya… He said… I don't know!"

"Offf, Riles! Okay, fine…. What did you say to him?"

"What would I say? I was all different types of shocked and I was just standing there, I couldn't even move. After that, my mum came…"

"Off, Topanga…. Such a great timing, woman!" Maya said sarcastically but still in annoyance. "But what did she say?"

"She was annoyed by the situation… but thankfully she didn't say anything too bad."

"Well, getting caught was bad."

"No, Maya… In my opinion, getting caught was good." Riley said as she remembered how Lucas was about to lean in and kiss her when her mum walked in on them.

"How? Why would it be good?" Maya asked, her thick eyebrows gathering in confusion.

"Seeing my mum brought me back to my senses…. What were I doing in the kitchen with their son at such a late hour of night? I mean… What if it wasn't my mum who came in? What if it was someone else? How was I going to explain it? I would've caused trouble for my mum… How was I able to be so reckless? How was I so irresponsible, Maya?"

"Riley…" Maya said with a serious yet soft expression on her face. "Do you want me to tell how you were so irresponsible and reckless?" Riley gave a hurried nod and Maya stared at her with a soft smile before answering her own question. "Because you like Lucas too."

"What? Me? I don't like him! I don't like anyone! Are you even serious?" Maya shut her lips tightly to stop herself from giggling out loud at her friend's actions of denial. "I don't like him!"

"Of course, you don't like anyone…. You don't like Lucas at all, not even one bit… Of course." Maya said with a small smirk on her face.

"I told you that I don't like him, Maya! Why aren't you believing me? I don't freaking like him!"

"Alright, fine… You don't like him but he does like you." She said with the same smirk on her face making Riley huff in frustration.

"You know what? I shouldn't have told you… Anyways, let's go or else we'll be late for work." They stood up and made their way towards the club since the park they were at was within walking distance from the club.

They arrived and changed into their uniforms before heading into the restaurant to start their shifts.

"Riles…" Maya called as they were both busy with organizing tables and cleaning cups and forks before laying them on the tables nicely. Riley gave a hum without looking away from the napkin she was folding. "I still can't believe it… The heir of the big and fancy JM Company likes you."

"Oh, how great!" Riley said sarcastically. "Don't exaggerate it, Maya… Besides, he doesn't like me… He's just looking for something to entertain him to make time pass… As if his girlfriend isn't enough!"

"In my opinion, he doesn't love that girl."

"Doesn't love her? How would you know?" Riley asked sarcastically.

"I just understand things." Maya said with a smirk.

"No, seriously… How did you understand that?"

"From his eyes… A man in love is different… He looks into the eyes of the girl he loves deeply…" Maya starts explaining dreamily, taking a seat on one of the chairs. "He stares into them so deeply to the point where you feel trapped in that moment… It takes you to whole different world and although you're alone in it, you don't want to come back or go there with anybody other than him... You want to stay there forever." Riley stares off as she listens to Maya's words, zoning off into a world of her own while remembering last night. "Whatever happens around you two doesn't matter… As if you two are alone in a big universe… It's a weird type of attraction that you can only find between two people in love." Maya gave a sigh. "Is that type of attraction between Lucas and that girl? I don't think so." Maya looked at Riley and a small smile came to her face when she noticed her staring blankly ahead of her, knowing that she was thinking about Lucas. "Bssst…" Riley seemingly came back to earth and looked at Maya in confusion. "I was talking to you…"

"Oh… Um… What does Lucas know about love anyways?"

"I don't think you should be so confident… If he loves you, I wouldn't be surprised at all…. I mean, after all the time you two have spent together, I believe that he's quite late."

"First it was Farkle and now it's Lucas… When are you going to stop getting my hopes up?" Riley said angrily but Maya knew not to get mad from her anger.

"Okay, I'll shut up, I'll shut up."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Oh, look! He still didn't wake up." Joseph said with a smirk.

"It's still quite early, honey… He'll be up soon."

"Oh, really? Yesterday he went to work just so that he doesn't hear anything from me but the day wasn't easy on him… The work was quite a lot and quite hard."

"You'll see, Joseph… He'll wake up and go to work… Just wait and see."

"Yeah, of course… He'll wake up at noon and then he'll stop by the club, wave at some employees and say hi to them… Then he'll probably play some sport to waste some time… that's all." Joseph said sarcastically.

"I hope God embarrasses you and prove you wrong…. I'm not gonna say anything else."

"I'm ready to be embarrassed… if only you just do it once." Cathy just sighs before a grin makes it's way to her face as she hears a voice from behind them.

"Good morning!" Lucas said happily as he made his way towards the table.

"Baby… Good morning! Come on, sit down and have your breakfast." Cathy said with a smile and Lucas sat down on the empty chair beside his mother.

"I'm going to have something quick and leave… Work doesn't wait as you already know." Lucas said naturally, not trying to grab his father's attention but doing so.

"Good morning." Topanga said with a smile as she approached their table with her apron around her waist and a plate of homemade stuffed mini croissants.

"Oh, Topanga! Are those croissants?" Cathy said with a giggle. "What are you doing? We're on a diet." Cathy said, but didn't complain when Topanga placed two in her plate.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Cathy…. It's very light and low fat as well." Topanga assured her with a smile and served Lucas two as well.

"I never knew that croissants could be low fat…. These look super delicious… It's looking at me and telling me 'Eat me! Eat me!'…"

"Don't worry, they're super light…." Topanga assured her and she nodded with a grin.

"Hmm… So delicious!" Lucas said after taking a bite and Cathy and Joseph nodded in agreement.

"Did your daughter inherit your cooking skills?" Joseph asked curiously.

"Riley is a pretty good cook but her specialty is cakes… She became quite popular at the bakery she used to work in for her cakes." Having heard that, Lucas remembers their first meeting when he almost hit her with his car and a small smile comes onto his face.

"Really? I love cake… Can she make us one?" Joseph asked and Topanga nodded. "I haven't seen your daughter in a while… Does she stay in her room all the time or what?" Topanga's gaze connected with Cathy's which didn't go unnoticed by Joseph. "Did you warn her not to come out of her room?"

"No, honey… Why would I?" Cathy said.

"Riley started working, Mr. Joseph… That's why she's not around as much anymore." Topanga informed him.

"Working? Where does she work?"

"What was it?" Topanga asked herself nervously. "Riley told me but I already forgot…. It's a nice place whatsoever…. It was a sports club if I remember correctly and she works at its restaurant."

"Oh, that's good." Joseph said and Topanga nodded before excusing herself.

"The girl just came back from working abroad and she immediately went and found herself a job… That must mean that she's a very hard-working and ambitious… God bless her." Cathy said and Lucas couldn't hide the small smile that came to his face. Hearing his mother praising his girl –or soon-to-be-his- made him feel very happy.

"What else can they do? They're just trying to face the difficulties of this world alone." Cathy gave a nod of agreement. "Honey… Always take care of them and ask them if they need anything, alright? We have to take care of them."

"Don't worry, honey." She reassures him with a smile.

Lucas, feeling a bit down because of what they were talking about, wipes his mouth with a napkin and stands up. "I'll be heading out now."

"Oh, but you barely ate anything." Cathy complains worriedly.

"Why don't you ever say that to me?" Joseph whines and Lucas takes this as his chance to escape so he turns around and walks away from the table.

"Baby, did I ever interfere with your life before we found out about your illness?" That was the last thing Lucas heard before he walked back into the house through the glass door of his room.

He walked out through their front door but stopped when he reached the door to the penthouse. He checked his phone once again but the message was still unread.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Riley checks her phone to see the time but finds that she has a new message from Lucas. Hesitantly, she opens the message.

 **-Lucas:**

 **Good morning, should we go to work together?**

Riley stares at the message for a few moments, not knowing what to do, before shaking her head and going back to helping Maya.

"Lucas sent me a message." She states out of nowhere and continues working as if she said nothing.

Maya smirks and asks, "What did he say?"

"Should we go to work together?" She repeated his message.

"I always get your hopes up, don't I? I don't have anything to do with it…. The guy simply likes you, whether you believe it or not." Maya said and Riley gave her a glare or warning but a customer called before she could reply. "I'll go."

Maya left to go check what the customer wants and Riley recalled some of the sweet words that slipped out of Lucas' mouth the night before.

 _Maybe I already like you a lot… Isn't that possible?_

She shakes her head and opens his message again. She types a reply then deletes it, and repeats the action multiple times before locking her phone and getting out of the door, needing some fresh air.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Lucas! Do you need anything?" Topanga greets as Lucas makes his way back into the kitchen.

"Uhh… Can I have a glass of water, please?" Topanga gave him a nod with a smile which Lucas returns. "Thank you." He said when she handed him a glass of water.

"Good Morning, Mr. Lucas." Katy greeted after she made her way into the kitchen and saw him standing there, drinking his water.

"Good morning." He greeted back with a smile.

"Topanga, I couldn't find Riley this morning… Did she leave the house early or is she still sleeping?" Katy asked and Lucas wanted to hug the life out of her and thank her endlessly for asking the question he was dying to know the answer for.

"She left early." Topanga answered with a nod, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.

"Have good day." Lucas said, putting his glass down on the kitchen isle before heading out of the door.

"Ah, weird! He came and took his water himself!" Katy said in surprise and Topanga just shrugged.

After getting into his car, he takes his phone back out and opens the text. "Why is that girl not answering my text even though she read it?" He asked himself before deciding to call her.

Riley's phone rang as she was taking a tray of dirty dishes and cups towards the kitchen. She took it out of the pocket of her mini-skirt and canceled the call with a frown of her eyebrows when she saw it was Lucas who called. Maya noticed her expression and immediately knew who the caller was and smirked.

"Alright, then…. We'll meet at our work place." Lucas said in frustration before starting the car and heading out of the house.

* * *

"Good morning, Dad!" Farkle greeted as he made his way into the living room where his father was reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, son." Minkus greeted before checking the staircase, to ensure that Caitlyn wasn't coming. "Farkle, we couldn't discuss it, all the preparations for tonight's party are ready, right?" He said in a quiet tone.

"Everything is perfectly ready." Farkle said with a nod and a grin.

"Caitlyn is gonna go speechless because of that surprise." Minkus said happily.

"Absolutely… She's not expecting anything like that from us at all."

"That surprise is gonna be good for her…. You know… Caitlyn gets very emotional on her birthdays." Minkus said with a sad shake of his head.

"I know…. Even though she doesn't talk to me about it, I know how she feel like very well… On every single birthday of hers…. She waits, wondering 'am I gonna get a call from my mother?'…. That's why she gets very excited before her birthday, even though she knows that she'll be disappointed by the end of the day… She still waits nevertheless…. You know, dad… They say that people forget their pain as the years pass, but there's nothing like that for Caitlyn…. My anger towards my mother increases as the years pass but not for myself… but for how sad my sister is because of her absence."

"Your mother also didn't want that to happen to Caitlyn… to either of you… but she also had her reasons, she-"

"Oh, please, dad… I'm not a kid anymore… I'm aware of everything… I understand things well now." His father sighs and looks down at his folded hands. "Anyways, I'll be heading out now…"

"Alright son… to the club?" he asked as Farkle stood up from his seat and fixed his shirt that has risen up a bit when he sat down. Farkle nodded and walked towards the door. "Oh, Farkle…" Minkus called, standing up from the couch. "I still can't figure out what to get Caitlyn…"

"Me either…"

"Well, if you get any ideas, call me… I'll go wake the birthday girl up." Farkle gave him a nod and walked back towards the door then left the house. Minkus shook his head before heading up the stairs towards Caitlyn's room. He knocked on the door lightly a few times. "May I come in, Cait?"

Since she's such a light sleeper, she woke up upon hearing the light knocks and her father's voice. She rubbed her eyes before sitting up in her bed. "Come in, daddy."

"I wanted to wake the birthday girl up myself." Minkus said with a grin as he closed the door behind himself. He sat down beside her on her bed and wrapped his arms around her in a fatherly hug. "Happy birthday, baby girl…. I'm so lucky that you were born… I'm so lucky that you're here with me right now… And I'm so lucky that you're my daughter."

"Thank you, daddy… I'm so lucky that you're my father too." Caitlyn said with a bright smile as she pulled away from the hug and gave him a kiss on every cheek. "How was I when I was born, dad? Tell me again."

Minkus gave a laugh before answering her. She asks the same question on every birthday. "You were very pretty, baby girl…. I can't forget that very first moment I saw you…. I immediately felt the responsibility of being a father to girl land on my shoulder…. I couldn't hug you for a few days, you know? I was afraid of hurting you…" The both laughed lightly.

"I can't ever let you go, daddy… You're the best." She said with a grin before it slowly fell down. "And my mother? Was she happy?"

"Is it even possible for her to not have been happy? Of course she was, baby girl…" Minkus said with a smile before deciding to discreetly change the subject. "I wish you were able to see your brother then… He stood proudly with his short height saying, 'I have a sister now!'" They both laughed once again.

"You two never fail to make me happy… You never made me feel like something is missing… Especially you… Thank you for being a father and a mother to us and also for not remarrying and bringing a step-mother for us." She said with a soft smile and wrapped her arms around him.

Minkus hugged her back but couldn't help but feel guilty, for keeping his relationship a secret from her, and worried. He didn't know what her reaction is going to be when he does tell her.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Lucas reached his office and saw Mr. John flipping through one the files he gave to Lucas yesterday through the class door. He sighs before walking in.

"Hello." Lucas greets.

"You did a much better job than I expected." Mr. John said. "I congratulate you."

"I'd like it a lot if you tell my father about that as well." Lucas said with a smile.

"Of course I will… But if you don't get help next time…"

"Help? What help?"

"Mr. Lucas…. The place is filled with cameras that work 24 hours…"

"Well… It's good that you said so…. But that will stay between us, won't it?"

"It can stay between us only if you finished the new project that I'll give you with the same efficiency… on your own, of course."

"New project!" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief.

"We thought about making a championship between our members during this month… What I want from you is to find an idea and build a show that has to do with the championship…. In here, you have some samples for last year's shows and activities… I think that they'll help you."

"Alright…" Lucas says with a nod.

"You have until the end of this week to finish this… Have a good day." Lucas gives him a smile and with that, Mr. John leaves his office.

"What do I even know about building shows? I wouldn't have finished what he gave me yesterday if it wasn't for Riley…. Speaking of… Where is that girl?!" He takes his phone out of his pocket. "She hasn't called me back… Could it be that she's avoiding me? She must be a bit shy because of what I said to her last night…" He thought to himself with a smile. He decides to call her again to try his luck.

"You're starting to really annoy me, Lucas." She said as she cancels his third call. She turns around and comes face to face with a smiling Farkle. "Good morning."

"Good morning, How are you, Riley?" Farkle greets her back.

"I'm okay, what about you?" She answered with a smile.

"I'm fine… I came here to play some sports and I told myself to come see you since I'm already here." He said. Usually, it would make her heart flutter to the point where she'd almost die but now, the flutter in her heart is barely there. "How are things going? Did you get used to the place?"

"Everything is going well." She replied with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that… Um… you're coming to Caitlyn's birthday party tonight, aren't you?"

"Um… Unfortunately I won't be able to come tonight…" She said apologetically.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No! It's just that I'm getting off work at 6 and then going home and getting ready will probably take a good while…"

"Oh, yeah… You're right… I didn't think of that." He replies and thinks about it for a few moments while biting on his lip. "You can leave early, can't you? If you do then everything will work out just fine… It doesn't matter if you're a bit late to the party as long as you show up in the end, right? I can even ask for a permission for you."

"No, you don't need to do that… I don't want to cause a problem from the second day."

"Don't worry… you're right…. It's impossible for you to get ready or even make it to the party before it's finished after your shift ends… Plus, Caitlyn will be really happy if you come." He says with a grin.

Riley thinks about it for a few moments before sighing, "Alright."

Farkle gave her another smile before starring at her as if he just remembered something, "By the way, I heard that you live at Lucas' house… I was really surprised to hear that."

"Ask me about it…. My mum started working while I was in Miami and she happened to work for his family… When they had to sell our house and she was left homeless…" Riley trailed off.

"Your house was sold?" Farkle asks in disbelief. "So that's why you're living at Lucas' house?"

"Yeah… When we were left homeless all of a sudden, that was the only solution my mum could find, thanks to Mrs. Cathy… But I wasn't in the picture at first since I was supposed to stay in Miami for the entire summer and my mum thought that by then, she would have already found a house… So when I came back suddenly, Mrs. Cathy had to allow me to stay there as well."

"Don't worry, Aunt Cathy and Uncle Joseph are very kind and nice… But I get you… Leaving your house and your routine must've been hard on you."

"It was very hard." She said with a nod as she looked down at the ground.

"Riley…" Farkle trailed off, making her look up, and when she did, he reached his hand out and caressed her shoulder in a supporting manner. Right then, Lucas saw them through the glass wall of the restaurant as he was coming to check on Riley. "You're one of the strongest girls I've ever met."

Lucas felt his blood boiling as he noticed Farkle's hand that was on her shoulder. He soon removed it and Riley gave him her signature smile.

"She cancels my calls and texts but she's not busy at all for other people." Lucas mutters through greeted teeth as he looks at the pair. Farkle says something to which Riley nods to and then he leaves so she turns around and goes back to what she was doing. Maya notices the furious guy that is making his way into the restaurant and secretly prays for her friend while she silently watches. "Riley…"

Upon hearing his voice, she turns around and stares up at him in surprise. Farkle as well watches the exchange in silence from where he was seated, on one of the tables.

"Why do you keep canceling my calls? I called you multiple times and I texted you this morning." He says as calmly as he can.

"I'm busy… I have work to do." She says simply. "What happened? What do you want?" She finally snaps.

"I noticed how busy you are…" He trails off as he shifts his gaze towards his cousin. "Anyways, I have a new project that I have to finish… I need your help."

"But I have work to do here… I work here and not in your department… Excuse me." She says and turns to walk away but he grabs her arm, stopping her.

"What's happening, Riley? Why are you acting like that?"

She yanks her arm out of his grasp. "Nothing… I told you that I have work, Lucas…. So will you stop making a big deal out of this?"

"You're that mad because of the things I said last night?" Riley just looks away from him. "Or are you a little shy now or what?"

"I really need to get back to work. Excuse me." She's says simply and leaves hurriedly before he could grab her again. She stands next to Maya as Farkle stands up and makes his way towards Lucas.

"Cousin…" Farkle calls and Lucas turns around to look at him. His stare was cold and hard. "How are you?" He asks when he reaches him.

"Fine." Lucas replies with a curt nod.

"So… Is there a problem between you and Riley?" Farkle asked. Riley and Maya watched the exchange, happy that they were within earshot and could hear everything.

"Nope, we don't have a problem… She was going to help me again today and we were just discussing that." Lucas replies with a tight smile, his stare softening a bit.

"Well, what I saw while I was sitting there didn't make it seem like she wants to do what you want… Leave the girl alone… Her work is here at the restaurant… She's a waitress and not your secretary or helper… She doesn't get paid to do that." Farkle says sternly and sharply.

Lucas' stare that was almost back to normal turns back to cold and hardens once again. He takes a step closer to his cousin and folds his hands over his chest. "Why do you care too much about this? I just don't understand."

"There's nothing that is not understandable, Lucas… We talked about this before… I promised Riley that she'll be comfortable here and you know how much I care about the promises I make and keeping them." This brings a tiny smile to Riley's face.

"How can I possible not know?" Lucas says sarcastically. "But I think that you're caring a bit too much… I think you're exaggerating a bit… I mean nothing is wrong… Anyways, did you come to do sports?"

"Yeah, I play tennis for a bit."

"Alright, and I'll go back to work." He says with another curt nod and a tight smile. He starts to step forward a bit to give Farkle the illusion that he's leaving so that Farkle leaves first, which he did. When Farkle had walked out of the restaurant, Lucas looks back at Riley with the same cold stare and she looks back at him softly before looking away. He then turns around and walks out of the restaurant as well.

"Girl, one of the heirs of the JM Company goes and the other comes, what's happening?" Maya says after a few minutes of silence.

"Don't even ask, Maya… I'm so confused."

"What did you and Farkle say? I'm so curious…. No, wait… Tell what has to do with Lucas first… When you were talking to Farkle here, he was furious…"

"No, I didn't answer his calls so that's probably what he was furious about."

"That's possible… What did he want anyways?"

"There's a new project and he wants my help… I told you that he's only making fun of me… He needs me to finish his work, that's all."

"Off, Riley… Are you stupid or what?" Maya said with a huff. "Getting help from you is only an excuse… He's trying to spend more time with you, why can't you see that?"

Riley stares at her for a few moments before shaking her head. "I have other things to do, Maya…. I have work to do, I'm working!"

"Alright, fine…. What did Farkle say?"

"First we talked about Caitlyn's birthday and I told him that I won't be able to make it since I won't have enough time to get ready but it was useless… He told me that he'll ask for permission to leave early…"

"Wow… he's even taking the permission for you which means that you have no excuse…"

"Nope, unfortunately, I'll go." Riley said with a sigh of defeat.

"Of course you'll go… You removed Farkle from your head and head… prove that to yourself and open a new page with him… Get ready and look pretty, even prettier than you normally do, then go to the party and have fun… that's all you gotta do!"

"Maya, I don't even have a single dress… who knows how the party will be and what the people are gonna wear whether it's a simple, casual kind of attire party or a fancy attire kind of party… I'll make a joke out of myself."

"Ohh… And of course Lucas is going to be there… Now I understand you, pumpkin…. Anyways, these things can easily be solved… Besides, haven't you seen Lucas' girlfriend? If you had the same amount of money then you'd be much prettier than her."

"What does this have to do with Lucas' girlfriend?" Riley asks in frustration.

"Oh, it slipped." Maya said with a grin and Riley just rolls her eyes at her friend. "If I knew that you'd be this jealous, I wouldn't have talked about her at all."

"Maya, you were the only that didn't make fun of me… and now you're making fun of me as well."

"Alright, pumpkin, don't get mad so fast…. I tell myself to not open the subject again but the something new happens… Anyways, how much money do you have? You didn't spend the last paycheck we took from the bakery, did you?"

"No, I haven't."

"Alright, and my paycheck is still with me as well…. We'll put my money on your money and buy you a very pretty dress." Maya says excitedly.

"No, we can't spend all of our money on a dress!"

"Actually, we won't spend it… We'll return the dress after you use it and then we'll get our money back."

"We'll return a dress after it's been worn? No, I can't do that… That's cheating, isn't it?"

"You're too kind, Riles…" Maya says with a shake of her head. "Alright, we'll rent it then…"

"How?"

"There're shops that do that… You can rent a dress for one night… You can even rent the shoes and the bag."

"Really?" Riley asked with a grin, happy that she found a solution.

"Yeah… I'll give you the address and you go find a dress, since you're leaving early… your hair is done already so you can just figure if you want it down or in an up-do then you'll only have to worry about your make up."

"But I can't buy a dress on my own, peaches." Riley whines.

"Umm…. Well, you can take pictures of every dress you try on and send them to me… That way we'll choose together… We'll find the dress that suits you the best."

"Great idea, peaches!" She says excitedly and claps her hands together before frowning again. "But what are we going to do about the present? I can't go empty handed… But what do you get for a girl that literally has everything?"

"You're right…" Maya trails off as she thinks about it. "Oh! You're an artist… You must have a few paintings that you drew, right? Wouldn't it be nice if you give Caitlyn one of them? A hand-made gift always mean more than the expensive one."

"Oh yeah… I have one that would be great for Caitlyn… oh and I even framed it a few days ago."

"Perfect! God, I don't know what you'd do without me." Maya says with a smug look and flips her long blonde hair.

"Peaches…" Riley trails off and wraps her arms around the short girl in a tight hug which Maya returns.

Just then Riley's phone rings and she walks away to answer it as a customer calls for Maya. "Hey, Cait."

"Hey, Riley…. How are you?"

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"And I'm fine as well… I wanted to ask you for something and I'd be very happy if you agree…" Caitlyn trails off.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Can you meet me this afternoon if you don't have work? Sofia was going to come with me to the salon but something came up for her and I can't decide on my hairstyle and makeup by myself… If you can come…"

"Alright, I'll come… but I have work now, Cait… So can I call you later?"

"Of course… Good luck… bye." Caitlyn says and they both hang up. Riley goes back to her work and continues her day smoothly after that.

With Lucas though, it wasn't going so smoothly. It's only been an hour and a half and he didn't do anything. He spent the past hour and half flipping through file after file and scrolling through the files on the laptop as well. He was bored out of his mind to say the least.

He got out of his chair and started pacing back and forth in his office. He gaze falls on the pen that was in Riley's hair yesterday when they were working and he picks it. His mind goes back to the night before and how she would smile at him every time she'd catch him looking at her.

He huffs and starts pacing again. "Times just doesn't want to pass today… I feel like I've been here for hours upon hours when it's barely been 2 hours…. If only she'd helped me, we would've been done with it by now… Anyways, I don't need her anymore." Right then, his phone starts ringing. "Hey, Kayli."

"Hey, baby… What are you doing?" Kayli asks as she lays on the cushioned swing in their backyard by the pool.

"I'm at the club."

"When will we meet? Let's do something today… I'm so bored." She whines.

"I'm also bored but unfortunately, I'm working."

"Oh come on, Lucas… Did you really start working?"

"Yes, Kayli…. You know what I went through with my father…. My mum also gets in hard situations because of me."

"I come to the US so that we could see each other more and then you go and start working… Alright, you're right but I'm acting like this because I miss you, babe…"

"Actually we can meet, I just have to finish my work first… If you come and help me with my work, it'll be over a lot sooner…" He tries, even though he almost completely sure what her answer is going to be.

"What? I'll work too?"

"I have a project to do so I'll tell you the ideas I have and you'll tell me if you have any ideas and we'll discuss them together…" Lucas said

Kayli give a nervous giggle, "Babe… I really want to help you but I don't understand anything about your work…. Anyways, I'll let you go back to your work and we'll meet later… There's Caitlyn's birthday party tonight… I'll barely be able to finish getting ready in time." She says before hanging up after he says goodbye. "Look at what you're asking me, Lucas!" She says and scoffs.

"My girlfriend for years refused to help me…" He trails off before looking at his fingers that still had the pencil between them. "I think she likes me too."

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

The hours pass by quickly for Riley and soon enough, it's the afternoon. She went back to where they change their clothes and slipped out of her uniform and into the pair of jean shorts and graphic tee that she was wearing earlier. She exchanges her black vans for the pair of mint green converse that she was wearing. She takes her bag and closes her locker after fixing her hair in the mirror.

"You took the shop's address, didn't you?" Maya asks her when she reaches her. Riley nods as she slips her phone into her bag. "Alright, don't forget to show me the dresses."

"Alright, don't worry." Riley said with a nod and a smile.

"Enjoy your time, pumpkin."

"You too, peaches." Riley says with a wink since Maya had told that she'll see Josh since her brother will be out of town. Maya smiles and goes back to her work. Riley takes her phone back out and calls Caitlyn for the salon's address. "Caitlyn… My shift is over, where and when are we going to meet? Yeah… I was heading towards that street anyways…. Okay I'll meet you in about an hour."

"The salon is in the same street as the shop… The question is how am I going to get there?" Riley wonders aloud to herself after hanging up.

* * *

 **Alright, first off, I'm so so so so so so sooooo sorry for not updating all that time. I went to my aunt's house in Egypt and I didn't have internet on my laptop. Even when I tried to write, my cousins would come up to me and either talk to me or just get me to do something with them, making my forget about writing... It's hard being in the same house with 4 cousins that are basically the same age as you, the oldest being 4 years older than me.**

 **No amount of words can express how sorry I am for not updating for that long... or how sorry I am already that I won't be updating for an even longer period. Which brings us to our next subject...**

 **School, aka senior year, starts this Sunday, aka the day after tomorrow (The 25th). As you know, I don't live in Egypt so the country I live in give many national vacations where all schools must give. The first one I know of is in January and I believe that it's the longest vacation they give as it's usually a week, if it doesn't come during the weekend which would suck for you guys. Until then, I probably won't be able to update because getting a chapter done for you guys to upload it today, literally took me a day and a half to write. I started writing it on Thursday and today (Friday) I started writing at 12PM and now it's almost 12AM... So if I don't have things to study during the vacations we hopefully take, I'll try my best to update.**

 **Originally, I was planning to end this chapter with Caitlyn's birthday but I still have a few things to cover before her birthday scene and I'm really sleepy right now so I can't focus much.**

 **I don't wanna jinx it but I'll try my best to update again tomorrow, but don't expect or wait for an update.** **Alright, so let's say that I don't update till mid-June or early July and that this is the last chapter I update until then, we're gonna consider the story done for the time being. We'll consider what is yet to be written and updated to be a sequel. I wanted to do a separate sequel but I don't wanna lose the name of the story and search for a new one because I believe this one fits, I don't want to name the sequel 'Just like strawberries; Part 2' either. That just seems lame to me. So we'll consider it a sequel but it's really the same story... Do you know what I mean?**

 **The story is by no means done... I have my fears that I'll lose my readers or I'd lose interest in the story but I have no choice but to put on temporary hiatus. I don't want to use that term so that's why I'm saying it'll be a sequel. Like, even if I'd updated more while I was in Egypt, I still wouldn't have reached the end of the story. And I know this is such a bad point to stop but I'm literally falling asleep as I'm writing this**

 **I'm so sorry once again, you guys...**

 **Another reason why I decided to stop here, I need a song asap... This time it's a song about seeing the one you love with someone else and not being able to do anything but watch. Please, if you know a song PM me or type it in a review so that I can use it, whether I update tomorrow or not, because I can't find any.**

 **Lastly, sorry for any grammar mistakes or typos and for the long AN.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	26. Chapter 26: Do I?

Minkus parks his car in front of a jewelry shop, that is apparently Ella's favorite in LA, and they both get out of the car. Minkus wraps an arm around Ella's waist.

"I hope we find something that suits Caitlyn in here." Minkus says.

"I'm sure that we will, babe… Don't worry." Ella assures him. He gives her a smile then opens the door for her, like the gentle man he is. "Thanks, love."

"Mr. Minkus, Mrs. Ella! Welcome to our store." The store's manager greets them with a smile and they give him a polite smile and a nod in return. "How can I help you?"

"Um… It's my daughter's birthday so we're looking for a present for her." Minkus informs and the manager nods then leads them to another part of the store.

They look at a few pieces that might suit a girl her age and Caitlyn's taste as well. They look at earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets and anklets.

"I think this one is very nice." Ella says as she holds up a simple necklace. She's been eying it for a while until she decided to just pick it and look at it more closely. "It's simple, yet chic and still fun at the same time."

"Yeah… I like it a lot as well." Minkus says with a nod of agreement after taking a good look at it.

"Oh… These earrings are very nice as well." Ella says and picks up a pair of gold earrings. It was a hollow oval shape that had a smaller hollow oval shape linked with it and hanging through it. "But I think it's very fancy for a girl her age, isn't it?"

She jokes and puts the earrings back on the clear glass table. The manager takes the necklace they chose and goes to put it in a velvet box.

"Ella, Thank you so much for coming with me… If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have decided whether to get this or that." Minkus says as he takes her hand in his then plants a kiss on the back of her hand.

"You're welcomed, babe… I had so much fun." Ella gives him a smile and then the manager comes back and hands them the bag. Minkus pays and then they make their way out. He opens the passenger door for her and waits until she sits down.

"Ta da!" He says happily and takes out a velvet box from the bag that he had.

"Honey! What is this?" Ella asks in surprise.

"It will suit you very well, babe… I'm sure." He gives her a grin.

"You didn't have to, love! Didn't we come here to buy a present for Caitlyn?"

"Don't I have the right to do things to make the women in my life happy?"

"You're amazing!" She says with a soft smile before opening the velvet box and giggles upon seeing what he got her. You guessed it, the pair of earrings she liked. He had gestured for the manager that he'll buy it when she'd put it back down. "It's very pretty…" She looks around them. "Thank you." Then she leans in and pecks his lips when she finds that the coast is clear.

He smiles and closes her door before going around the car and getting into the driver's seat and driving off.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

Kayli couldn't sit still after hearing what the makeup artist at the salon had said a few days ago. So she sent her friend to get information from that girl and information is what she got. After getting the information, she started looking for a way to drop the bomb and decided to start with getting on Miley's nerves.

"Hey, Miley! How are you?" Kayli said with a smirk on her face when Miley picked up the phone.

"Hey… I'm fine." Miley answers back as she adjusts the shopping bags she was holding.

"Did you start getting ready for tonight?" Kayli asks as she lays a few dresses onto her bed to choose one to wear at the party. She'd already showered and gone through with her pamper session.

"What is there tonight to get ready for?"

"What do you mean? Caitlyn's birthday party is today, duh." She was having more fun as the seconds pass. "Or… Did Farkle not invite you?"

Miley takes a deep breath, not wanting to lose her cool and satisfy Kayli, knowing well what she's trying to do. "Of course he invited me, love… I just forget for a minute there… Anyways, unfortunately I can't join you because I have a very important meeting that I can't cancel since I promised to go before even knowing about the party."

"Oh, I'm so sad to hear that but what can we do? We'll just meet later." Kayli says and Miley just hangs up and huffs. "She has a meeting! Liar…. It's good that I called her…. What do we do now? Since we won't be able to see you at the party then there's no need to wait to drop the bomb."

She opens her twitter app, using an unknown account, and tweets the pictures that the girl gave to her friend. They're picture of Miley and her co-star kissing, hugging, holding hands, and being all couple-like. She tags Miley and then tweets it.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Riley! Are you leaving?" Farkle asks when he sees her making her way out of the restaurant.

"Yes." She answers with a smile.

"I'm leaving too… Let me drive you to where you're heading if you want."

"Oh, I don't want to tire you…."

"Oh, there's nothing from that sort… Come on." She nods and they both head out together.

To Riley's -or Lucas'- bad luck, Lucas happens to be heading towards the restaurant so he sees them getting into Farkle's car. He was going to the restaurant to see her but all he got was his blood boiling. He gets even more furious when he notices the smile on her face as Farkle drives off. His hand form into tight fists.

"I think I've spent enough time here for today." He mumbles through greeted teeth and gives a huff before heading towards his car.

"Caitlyn will be very happy with tonight's surprise." Farkle said with a grin after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah… She's very excited." Riley agrees with a nod.

"Did you talk to her today?"

"We did… I'm even going to her right now because she asked for my help with choosing her hairstyle and makeup at the salon."

"That's the first time I saw her getting this close to someone other than Sofia." Farkle says softly.

"She probably feels comfortable around me."

"It might seem normal to you because you don't really know her… No matter how much of a kid she seems to people… What she really is, is a cold girl that has walls around her that barely anybody can climb…. What I want to say is that it's not easy for her to be close to someone."

"I think… putting aside whether she loved me or not… I think she loved us a lot." Riley says before realizing what she said. "Um! What I mean by us is… Um… She didn't know that we were only pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend…"

"For example, she didn't feel comfortable around Miley and I can't even say that she liked her let alone loved her… Even when she finds out that we're back together, she won't be anywhere near happy for us… I didn't invite Miley to the party just so that I don't annoy Caitlyn."

"Off…"

"Unfortunately." Farkle says with a sigh and they stay silent for a few minutes until Farkle's phone dings, indicating that he got a message. It was a DM on twitter so he opened it while driving, not expecting what he saw. He felt his blood boiling and greeted his teeth to try to hold his feelings in. He hands started shaking and he threw his phone back into the cup holder with force that it'd be a surprise if it's not broken. Riley looks at him in surprise.

"Farkle, are you okay?" She asks worriedly. He just chews on his lips and grips the steering wheel tighter. One of his fists punches the ceiling of his car hard, startling Riley. He punches it again even harder and Riley stares at him in fear. She was afraid that he'll end up hurting himself not that he'll hurt her.

Farkle finally seemed to realize that Riley was with him so he gave her an apologetic gaze. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay… What happened? Will you tell me?" She asks softly.

"Can you just give me some time to cool off?"

"Of course… Just don't drive the car in this state…. Let's pull over somewhere…. Please." He nods then parks his car near the first park/playground he sees. They both get out and Farkle sits down on one of the benches. Riley sits down next to him in silence, giving him the time he needed to cool off. When she notices that his breathing has gone bake to normal, she talks. "Are you better now?"

"I am… Thank you." He gives her a thankful smile.

"I'm glad you are… Do you want to walk for a bit?"

"Okay." They both stand up and start walking.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" She asked.

"Miley…" He trails off with a sad smile. "She lied to me…" He takes his phone out and shows her the pictures. "That's her cast mate in a show she made… She told me that nothing was going on between them but as you can see… These pictures say otherwise."

"I don't know what to say…"

"I shouldn't have given her a second chance."

"How could you have known that this was going to happen?"

"My dad told me that whoever makes you sad once will do it twice and thrice…. I should've listened to him."

"I think that you shouldn't blame yourself… Besides, it's not your lose, it's hers."

"Yeah… This time she really did lose me… I don't understand why it's this hard! Shouldn't everything be easy as long the two people love each other?"

"I honestly don't know… I've never been in a relationship before."

"How?" Farkle asked in disbelief. "You've never had a boyfriend before?"

Riley gives him a nod before giggling, "I never had except for that one time when we pretended that we were dating."

"It's very strange that a girl like you doesn't have a boyfriend…. I mean you're nice, funny, cute, and very beautiful…. It must be that you're very picky then."

"Honestly, it may sound childish to you but… I believe that I have a soulmate out in this world, waiting to meet me… Having an eternal love where you'll be together forever… I want that kind of love and you can only find it with your soulmate… The one you're fated to love from the day you were born…. Of course, finding that person isn't very easy… In fact, some people live their entire lives without finding their soulmates…" She trails off then notices Farkle smiling widely. "What happened? Why are you laughing? It's funny, isn't it?"

"No, that's not why I'm laughing… It's actually because I agree with and that's why I liked what you were saying." Riley gives him a smile before her phone starts ringing.

"Oh, it's Caitlyn."

"Please, don't tell her about what happened." Riley nods and answers the phone.

"Hey, Cait… Yeah, I'll be there soon… Okay, bye!"

"You're late because of me…"

"That doesn't matter… You're better now, aren't you?"

"I am… Thank you."

"Let's go, then." They both head back towards the car and he drops her off near the dresses shop. She chooses three dresses, a blue one, a pink one, and a white two-piece one. She tries the pink and the white one and takes pictures and sends them to Maya. When she puts on the third one, she's instantly in love with it so she video calls Maya.

"Oh la la!" Maya immediately says when the picture of the call if clear. "I like this one!"

"Me too! Did you see the other two as well?" Riley asks.

"Yeah… They're nice but not as nice."

"Okay… Which necklace goes with it?"

"Neither…. The silver one that you're wearing with your initials on it suits it better."

"Shoes and bag?"

"Do you have anything silver?"

"Yeah, I do actually…"

"That's good… Wear yours instead of renting then."

"Alright… I gotta go now, Caitlyn is waiting for me… Thanks, peaches! I love you!" Riley blows her a kiss.

"I love you too, pumpkin! Enjoy your night! Bye!" With that they both hang up. "My lovely pumpkin… She'll drop some jaws tonight."

After paying and signing the renting papers, Riley makes her way out to the streets. Luckily, the salon is only a few building away from the shop so within five minutes, she arrives.

She walks into the salon and looks around her in awe of how big and fancy it is.

"Riley!" She hears someone calling so she turns around to find a very excited Caitlyn coming towards her. Caitlyn hugs her tightly before pulling away and kissing her cheeks.

"Cait, I'm sorry for being late…"

"It's okay, I haven't been here long anyways." Riley gives her a smile that she returns.

"Welcome, sweetie! I'm Tyler." A guy introduces himself to Riley with his hand extended.

"Hello, I'm Riley! Very nice to meet you." Riley greeted back with a smile and shook his hand.

"Very nice to meet you too, babe! You girls are gonna have to wait for little bit though… Have a seat here please." He leads them towards two empty chairs for when the stylists start on them. "What would you like to drink?"

"Ah! Should we drink coffee? And then we can read each other's fortune/fate!" Caitlyn suggests excitedly to Riley as they sit down.

"Coffee is good but I don't know how to read fortunes/fates."

"We'll have coffee then." She says to Tyler and he gives her a nod before leaving to two girls alone. "Riley, I'm very glad that you came… Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Riley said and gave her a smile.

"I thought that you wouldn't even come to my birthday party after what happened but you didn't bring me down, thankfully."

"Look… What happened, happened… It's done and over with so we can't do anything about it…. I came because I'm your friend." Riley grabs her hand and gives her a smile before adding, "Just for _you!" Not for Farkle or Lucas, Maya!_ Riley added in her mind.

"I know… I promised you that I won't try to do anything, don't worry."

"Okay, so there's no new surprise, is there?"

"Well… even if I tried, I'll fail anyways." They both giggled before Caitlyn continued in a more serious, soft tone. "I consider myself very close to you… I feel like you're just… Real... You act naturally and realistically."

"So are you, Cait!"

"So I know that I can trust you… I want to share something with you but… If it can stay just between us…"

"Of course it will." Riley reassured her with a nod.

"There's a guy that I like." Caitlyn said with a shy smile and Riley couldn't help but smile as well. "He's also coming to my party tonight so that's why I'm so excited."

"Now I get it… All these preparations for him."

"Yeah… I'm planning to confess to him… He's so blind to the point where it's like he doesn't see me…. But I decided to just get some courage and talk to him."

"I hope that he feels the same too… You deserve this much, Cait."

"Yeah, me too…. One sided love is very painful." Caitlyn says and Riley's smile slowly falls. "The person is so close that if you reach your hand out, he'll catch it… yet, he's so far away… You want to see him all the time…" Tears were filling Caitlyn's eyes now. "You make all kinds of plans to see him… You think about him all the time but… He's just oblivious to all that." Riley gives her a tight smile and a small nod. "He has to know how I feel… Even if I'll end up being let down, I'll tell him how I feel."

Riley reaches out and holds her hand once again. "Caitlyn, Love requires courage and patience… It is apparent that you'll love him a lot… I hope he's someone worthy of your love."

Caitlyn gives her a smile and then her phone starts ringing. She sniffs and answers, "Hey, dad! I'm at the salon right now… I'll be done in about two hours at most…. Oh, you'll come take me? Okay, that's great!" Caitlyn grins. Riley feels her smile dropping again as she remembers her father. She never got to experience seeing the look on her father's face when she's all dresses up for a party or things like that. "Alright, we'll talk later then… I love you, daddy! Bye!" She hangs up before turning to Riley who was just staring at her lap. "My father is gonna pick me up so if you want, we can drive you home as well."

"No, it's okay… I have a few things to do around here anyways." Riley gives her a tiny smile.

"Alright then, as you like."

"Alright, pretty ladies! Shall we start?!" Tyler says with an excited clap of his hands.

"Okay!" Caitlyn gives him a grin.

"No, I'm not going to do anything." Riley says hurriedly. The salon is so fancy that she knows she won't be able to afford it if they just put lip gloss on her.

"That's not possible, Riley! We came here so let's get pretty." Caitlyn says.

"No, no need."

"Babe, this is the only place in LA where you can't step out of it just like you stepped I, sorry… It's Caitlyn, the birthday girl, and you're her friend… I don't want to hear any complaining, you both are my responsibility." Riley couldn't help but giggle at the way he was moving his body as he talked. He was so sassy that she was sure that he was gay. She didn't mind though, the guy was cute.

"Wait! We can't do this without music! We have to get motivation!" Caitlyn says in all seriousness and takes her phone from her bag.

"From your phone?" Riley asks in confusion. Caitlyn nods and Riley watches as she switches her Bluetooth on and connects to the salon's speakers.

 **Baby, this is what you came for  
Lightning strikes every time she moves  
And everybody's watching her  
But she's looking at you, oh, oh  
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh  
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh  
You, oh, oh, oh, oh**

Riley smiles and guy starts on Caitlyn while Tyler starts on Riley. She had her bangs pinned back so he unpinned them and started putting her in different styles messily until she decided what she liked. He asked her what her dress' color was and when she told him, he started on her makeup, after removing what she had on of course. Every girl had two guys working on her, one doing her makeup and one doing her hair.

* * *

"Guys, put this table here." Ian said as he pointed at a table then pointed at the place he wanted it to be moved to.

"Ian! When did you arrive?" Farkle asked when he made his way into his backyard.

"A while ago."

"By the way, your decorations are very good!" Farkle said with a smile as he looks around the fully decorated backyard. Ian gives him a grin. Farkle's phone dings so he opens the message.

 _ **We're on our way, Ian can call now. –Dad**_.

"You can call Caitlyn now."

"Oh, alright." Ian takes his phone out of the pocket of his blazer and dials her number. "Hey, Cait!"

"Hey Ian!" She says with a grin.

"Cait… I have some bad news for you…" He says quietly.

"What is it? What happened? Are you not gonna be able to come to the party?!" She asks in panic.

"No… Something happened to the place so we can't have the party tonight."

"W-what?!" She asks in disbelief. "B-but why-y?!"

"Some problem happened with its license so they closed the place for a few days… we can have the party after we open it again… Anyways, I have to go… Excuse me." He hurriedly hangs up, not able to keep the act up any longer.

"AHHH, Dad! What am I gonna do now!?" She cried out to her father. "I invited everyone, EVERYONE! What am I gonna tell them? Offff, I can't believe this!"

"Baby girl, don't get mad… We'll go home and see what we can do… Just calm down."

"Offf, dad! I really can't believe this." She huffs and fights hard not to cry.

Lucas makes his way into the party, wearing a simple pale blue short sleeved button up and a pair of dark grey jeans along with a pair of dark blue vans.

He greeted the two men, "The birthday girl isn't here yet?"

"They're on their way." Farkle answered with a smile.

"The place looks amazing… Good job, Ian!" Lucas says after taking a look around him and gave Ian a pat on the back. Ian gave him a thankful smile.

"Where's Kayli?" Farkle questioned.

"She'll come on her own." Lucas answered simply with a shrug.

Farkle's phone dinged again.

 _ **We're here, get ready –Dad**_

"They're here, everybody!" Farkle said loudly with a loud clap of his hands to attract everybody's attention. They all gathered away from the backyard's door so that she doesn't see them when she walks through the front door.

"Sofia is not answering her phone either… I have to tell her at least!" Caitlyn complains when they walk into the house.

"Cait… Let's go take a look at the backyard… Your brother is probably there." Her father said.

"Does he know that it's cancelled? What is doing home?"

"I don't know, let's go and see." He puts a hand on the small of her back and guides her. Luckily for her, her nude pumps were not hard to walk in.

"SURPRISE!" Lucas, Ian, and Farkle say loudly at the same time while everybody else claps. Caitlyn grins and takes a step back from the surprise before hugging her father.

"Daddy, I can't believe this!" He gives a chuckle and shoe goes to hug Farkle.

"Happy birthday, little sister! I'm so glad that you're my sister!" He tells her with a grin and hugs her tightly then plants a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you so much, Farkle." She goes on the person next to him which is Lucas and gives him a hug as well.

"Happy birthday, little thing! I'm so glad that you were born!"

"Thank you." She says with a grin and goes on to hug the last person, and her favorite, which is Ian.

"Happy birthday, baby girl! We're so lucky that you were born and came into our lives!"

"Thank you…" She trailed off with a grin before walking back towards her father. "I really can't believe this! Thank you, daddy!"

"Shall we go inside for a few minutes?" She nods so he led her back into the house.

"What's wrong, daddy?"

"Cait… There's something that is missing here."

"What is it?" She asks where her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

He grins and takes his hand from behind his back to reveal the rectangular shaped velvet box. "This."

"Oh dad! You didn't have to!"

"I just hope you like it."

She opens it to reveal a rose gold necklace that had a small rose gold butterflies with tiny diamonds in it. She gasps in awe. "It's really beautiful! You have such a great taste daddy! It's so simple yet elegant and chic…. Thank you so so much, daddy!"

"You're welcome, baby girl… I'm so glad you like it." She gives him a grin. "Come on, let me put on you!"

"Alright!" She turns around for him and he clasps it around her neck. Luckily, it went well with her dress.

Her dress was a short dress that had an oval neckline. It was all in a pale champagne/nude kind of color but the top had royal blue lace on it that kind of dripped into the tulle, a little flared, skirt of the dress. She'd paired it with rings and a royal blue clutch along with her nude pumps. Her eyes were smokey and her lips were coated in a nude pink shade. They'd curled her hair before pinning it up in a messy but fancy up-do with a few pieces of hair framing her face.

"It suits you very well, baby girl."

"Thank you, daddy." She says softly.

He gives her a smile, "Come on, go to your friends… I'll join you guys in a bit." He gives a hug and she heads into the backyard and stands with her brother, cousin, and Ian at their table.

"Everything is even prettier than I'd imagined it to be…Thank you so much, Farkle."

"Sofia and Ian helped me a lot." Farkle says with a nod.

"Thank you as well, Ian… Everything is perfect." She says with a soft smile.

"I'm glad that you liked it, babe." He says with a small smile of his own.

"Where is Sofia? She didn't make me feel like anything is going on."

"I thought that she wouldn't be able to keep it and will end up telling you…" Farkle says with a chuckle and Caitlyn giggles as well.

"You're right…. And where's Kayli?"

"She'll come on her own, little thing… I didn't have time to pick her up because I came here straight from the club." Lucas answers simply and she nods before looking at everyone at the party.

 _Where's Riley? Or does she not know that the party is here? Even if she does, does she know the address?_ Caitlyn thought to herself as she searched the place with her eyes.

"I think that everybody is here, brother… but I… invited someone else and I can't see them."

"Who?" Farkle asks in confusion.

"Riley." She says casually.

Farkle gives a chuckle while Lucas frowns, "Don't worry, I talked to her today and gave her the updates… Actually, I drove her to you at the salon today."

"Did you make up!?" She asks excitedly.

"No, Cait. Riley is your friend, that's all… Don't make me regret inviting her." Although he was smiling, she knew that he was serious.

 _So that's why they left together…_ Lucas thought to himself. _Still, she could've asked me to drive her. It didn't have to be him._

"Okay, okay."

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"Cathy, is Lucas going to be late?"

"Probably… Caitlyn's birthday party is today."

"Oh really?" He asks with raised eyebrows.

"The guys are celebrating today but I say we have dinner together tomorrow." She suggests with a smile.

"That'd be great… You work on organizing that, okay?"

"How can I not? She's my little girl… Caitlyn is like a daughter to me."

"Yeah… You did a lot with Caitlyn as she grew up."

"I still can't believe that woman, you know? When she left, Caitlyn was still a little baby… How can a person just disappear and not even call once? I don't see our son for two days and I almost die from missing him…. She never called to check on them all these years."

"Believe me, Cath… Not seeing her is a lot better… What could a woman like her possibly give to these children?"

"No, Joseph… Motherhood is really different… When you give birth to a child, you just get this connection with them, to them… A connection that is only between a mother and her child…. I can't explain it well enough, but it's just a feeling that makes you want to be with your child all the time… how did she get rid of that?"

"Um… Anyways, let me call Cait… I didn't tell her happy birthday." He decided to change the subject then takes his phone out of his pocket and dials Caitlyn's number. "Hey, best brother's daughter ever! How are you?"

"I'm great, thank you… How are you?"

"I'm great as well… Happy birthday, cutie!"

"Thank you so much, Uncle!"

"But I can't just say it dryly… We'll celebrate together as soon as possible, and I also have a present for you."

"Thank you… It's enough that you thought of me and called me." Caitlyn replied, the smile evident in her voice.

"Alright, sweetie… Oh, here's your aunt, she wants to talk to you." Joseph passes the phone to his grinning wife.

"My lovely girl with the pretty eyes! Happy birthday, sweetheart! May the upcoming years be great for you…"

"Thank you, Aunt Cathy."

Cathy was about to reply when Joseph received another call. She took the phone away from her ears to see the caller. Jessic. "Alright, sweetheart… I'll be seeing you soon, baby! Enjoy your party…"

Cathy hanged up with a frustrated look on her face and dropped the phone on the couch beside her and Joseph sighed upon seeing the caller ID. They sat in silence, drinking their tea, until Joseph's phone started ringing again.

Before Joseph could reach for it, Cathy did angrily. "But why does this Jessic keep calling you, Joseph? I'm starting to get mad because of this… You'd barely get a phone call after work but lately, he calls you every single day! What's his deal?!" Joseph cancelled the call so the phone stopped ringing. "He's not your friend nor a usual client of the company. Despite that, he keeps calling and calling… What the hell does he want?"

"Cathy…" Joseph said calmly, preparing for the worst. "I have to tell you something."

At that, Cathy's eyes rolled. "What is it, Joseph?"

Joseph gave a sigh before talking, avoiding eye contact. "I didn't tell you so that you don't get mad… But keeping it away from you is also not okay…"

Now that got her worried. "What happened?"

"That caller… Jessic…" She gave a nod for him to continue. "It's actually Jessica."

 _Jessica… Jessica… who's_ \- "Jessica! As in Jessica, Minkus' ex-wife!" She exclaimed in disbelief. Joseph gave a curt nod. "Unbelievable! Where did she suddenly appear from? What does she want?"

"If you want the truth, I don't really know what she wants either… I haven't told Minkus about it… Himself, Ella, and the kids are very happy so I didn't want to make them worry… But she suddenly appeared, what do I do?"

"How could she call though?! What does she want after all those years for God's sake?! Does she want to see the kids?"

Joseph scoffed, "I don't think she came back for something so innocent and noble like that…. It's different."

Cathy's eyebrows frowned in confusion. "How is it different?"

"When me and Jessica met-"

"When you met her!"

"Yes, we met." Cathy looked away from him in anger. "Didn't your friend see me? I was talking to Jessica, not Jessic, at the time."

"So I was right with my suspicions, Joseph… And you lied to me." She stood up from the couch.

"Please… I had to, Cath… I had no idea what to do…"

"Whatever the reason, you shouldn't have lied to me, Joseph! Just because you had no idea what to do… That doesn't justify the fact that you LIED to me." With that, she stormed out of the living room. She took went downstairs and onto the backyard.

"Oh, Damn you, Jessica! You appear and the problems appear with you… God, Damn it!" Joseph threw his phone onto the couch in frustration. He waited a few minutes before sighing and going after his angry/hurt wife. He found her standing by the pool like he knew she were. "Cathy… Come on… Let's go out and have something to drink."

"No." She said without turning around.

"You don't want to go out? Or are you still mad at me?"

"I don't want to do anything with you anymore, Joseph."

"So you're still mad… Okay, you have every right to be… But don't make it bigger than it is…"

She gave a sarcastic laugh and turned around, "Make it bigger?!" She folded her arms and turned her back towards him once again.

"Alright… I'm sorry… You're right but believe me when I tell you that I was annoyed with myself for the fact that I lied to you… I was just waiting for the right time to tell you… I didn't tell you from the start because I don't even want to talk about that woman… Cathy, would I ever lie to you because I want to? Have I ever lied to you?"

Cathy sighed and turned around, "Joseph… Yes, you've never lied to me before… But don't lie to me again as well…. Don't ever do that again."

"I can't even if I wanted to… I love you too much to lie to you…" He gave her a smile and cupped her face. "My beautiful wife…" He kissed her cheeks. "The love of my life." Forehead. "My one and only." A Peck on the lips. "Oh, you look so good even when you're mad… I feel blessed to have you." That earned a smile out of his wife. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Do you forgive me?"

Cathy gave a laugh and with it, he knew that she did.

* **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"My little baby is now a young lady!" Farkle said playfully as he wrapped and arm around Caitlyn from behind, surprising her. He laid a gentle kiss on her cheek while she giggled.

"Yeah, brother… Now you finally admit it!" She said making her brother laugh.

"Happy birthday once again, Caity cait!" Lucas said with a grin and gave her a wink making her grin.

"Thank you one again, Lukey luke!" Lucas laughed at the mention of his nickname that she gave him when she was a lot younger.

"You look super pretty!" Sofia whispered to Caitlyn who had adverted her eyes towards Ian who was at the bar talking to the bartender.

"I do, don't I? It's a very important night!" She whispered back.

"Yeah it is, I'm very excited, Cait!"

"Me too! Especially because I asked my father about the flowers and the bear that I received and he said that he didn't send them… It must be Ian!" Earlier this morning, a guy dropped of a bouquet of tulips, her favorite flowers, along with a medium sized white teddy bear but there was no card attached.

"Girls, what are you whispering about?" Kayli asked with a smirk. She was wearing a simple grey body-con dress that had lace detailing on its halter neckline along with a pair of black pumps.

"Oh, nothing… It's just too loud for us to hear each other so we're whispering… We're not trying to hide anything, if that's what you mean." Caitlyn answered.

Kayli gave a laugh, "I'm just kidding, Caitlyn." She turned towards Lucas who was talking to Farkle. "Hey babe…" He turned around to look at her. "Come on, let's dance."

"We can do that later, Kayli." He said with a tired expression on his face and turned back towards Farkle.

"Off Lucas… Something happened to you today! You're not being your usual self!"

"I'm just tired, Kayli. Can you understand that?"

"Of course." She said with a tight smile on her face. "Girls, come on, let's have some fun, shall we?" She said to Caitlyn as Sofia as if nothing happened.

"We shall." The girls answered at the same time and the trio headed towards the dance floor.

"Where's Miley?" Lucas asked curiously. "Isn't she coming?" Farkle looked down at the table and clenched his jaw, which didn't go unnoticed by Lucas or Ian –who'd just joined them. "Did something happen?"

"Is everything okay, bro?" Ian asked.

"Yes it is… Let's close this subject." Farkle said simply.

"Why? Everything was just fine until yesterday." Lucas pressed.

"Everything is over." Farkle stated with a shrug.

"But why?" Ian asked.

"Because she lied to me… She is really in a relationship with her cast-mate and that was the last chance I gave her… So don't ask any more questions." Lucas laid a supporting hand on his cousin's shoulder but Farkle just walked away from both of them.

"I'll go see him." Ian said and went after him after Lucas gave him a nod. Kayli then joined him while Sofia and Caitlyn joined Farkle and Ian.

"So, where is Miley?" Kayli asked, trying to appear curious.

"Don't ask, Kayli… This time they really did break up for good."

"Well, I'm not surprised that they broke up after those pictures… Farkle wouldn't have taken that."

"How do you know about that?"

"It's all over all social media sites, Lucas… She really has something going on with her cast mate… Those intimate pictures and such couldn't imply anything but that."

"You just adore digging into people's private lives, don't you Kayli?"

"Farkle is our friend, Lucas… It's possible that he's sad now but he now sees Miley's real face." Lucas just gave a huff and clenched his jaw before looking away from her.

* * *

The hours passed and the day turned into night quickly. Everyone was finally enjoying their time. Some guests were dancing, others were just talking to each other, a few were at the bar enjoying the drinks, while others just stood at the tables and watched.

Everyone seemed to stop what they're doing upon the entrance of one particular girl. Lucas was the first to notice her walking through the glass door and it seemed to go in slow motion.

His eyes trailed up from her nude pumps that made her legs go on forever then up to her beautiful dress that looked even prettier simply because she's the one wearing it. It was a smile yet unique light blue dress that had a lace bodice with a printed layered skirt that had what looked like various geometric shapes on it. His eyes finally trailed up to her face and he didn't think that she'd get any prettier. **(AN: Nina Debrov's dress from the 2nd annual NFL in new Orleans by Zuhair Murad)**

Her chocolate brown eyes were so intense with the smokey eye-shadow she had on and her face was slightly bronzed along with a pretty pink blush. Her lips were coated in a nude pink lip gloss. Her hair was up in a messy but elegant ponytail with a few strands of her framing her highlighted face. She was clutching a black clutch in one hand, and a blue gift bag in the other.

They both looked eyes and Lucas couldn't help the small smile that took place on his face. Time seemed to stop for both of them as they stared into each other's eyes and Rile couldn't stop the butterflies that erupted inside her upon seeing his smile. She flicked her eyes to the ground before looking back up at him and giving a very small smile.

Farkle, Ian, and Kayli followed Lucas' eyes and the three of them held surprised expressions on the faces. Caitlyn was the last one to notice but when she did, she grinned and hurriedly went over to her.

"Riley! I'm so glad you came!" Caitlyn greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and grin.

"Happy birthday, Cait! I hope you like it." Riley said with a smile as she handed Caitlyn the gift bag.

"Thank you so much!" Caitlyn said happily and opened the bag to see what's inside.

"Riley, thank you for coming tonight…" Farkle said after he's approached them. Riley just smiled and gave him a nod.

Caitlyn opened the box that was inside the bag and gasped in awe upon seeing what's inside. It was a framed drawing of a blonde little girl driving a bike that had many colorful balloons tied to it. The drawing looked so colorful and happy.

"You drew this for me?" Caitlyn asked in awe. "Thank you so much, Riley! This gift means a lot to me! I'll be hanging this in the prettiest spot in my room and it's never coming down." Riley gave her a wide smile and Caitlyn hurriedly handed the gift to their mad telling her to put it in her room. "You look so pretty! You even look prettier that all the girls at this party… including me!" She whispered to her excitedly.

"Thank you…" Riley didn't know why but she felt overwhelmed with everything. She didn't know whether it's because she's at a party that is full of rich people or If it's because of Lucas' burning stare that was still fixed on her.

"We have to take a selfie considering how pretty you look." Caitlyn went back to the table and got her phone. Riley casually looked towards Lucas to find him still staring at her with the same smile on his face. Caitlyn came back and raised her phone up, making sure that Ian, Lucas, Farkle, Kayli and Sofia are in the picture as well. "Riley, smile a little."

Riley grinned and Caitlyn took the picture. "It looks so good!"

"Yes it does." Riley said with a smile and watched as Caitlyn posted it on her Instagram and then on her snapchat.

"Come on, let's dance and have fun! You join us as well, Brother!" Caitlyn said excitedly before approaching Ian with a more quite tone. "Shall we dance?" She asked shyly.

"Of course, babygirl." He said and took her hand in his and led her to the dance floor. Riley watched them with a grin on her face, not noticing the two men who were currently watching her.

"Riley… Would you like to dance?" Farkle asked and both Riley's and Lucas' eyes snapped towards him. He reached his hand out towards Riley and Riley flicked her gaze towards Lucas who had turned his gaze back on her, waiting for her answer. _Please say no… I don't think I can see you with him_. Lucas thought.

Riley took her eyes off of his and held her hand out and slowly slipped it into Farkle's waiting hand. He watched as Farkle lead her to the dance floor as the soft melody of a piano started.

 **Everybody's laughing in my mind**

 **Rumors spreading 'bout this other guy**

 **Do you do what you did when you**

 **Did with me?**

 **Does he love you the way I can?**

 **Did you forget all the plans?**

 **That you made with me?**

' **Cause baby I didn't**

 _Oh great… that song out of all songs had to be the one they dance to._ Lucas thought to himself as he watched them with his jaw clenched.

 **That should be me**

 **Holdin' your hand**

 **That should be me**

 **Makin' you laugh**

 **That should be me**

 **This is so sad**

 **That should be me**

 **That should be me**

He hated watching them dance. He hated that it was Farkle's hands wrapped around her waist and not his. He hated that it was Farkle who was having her hands wrapped around his neck. He hated how Riley seemed to be avoiding eye contact.

He briefly locked eyes with Riley. He saw guilt in Riley's eyes, and he hoped that she could see the anger and jealousy in his. In which she did, which made her tear her eyes away from his.

 **That should be me  
Feelin' your kiss  
That should be me  
Buyin' you gifts  
This is so wrong,  
I can't go on,  
Till you believe that**

 **That should be me  
That should be me**

You know what he hated most? The fact that she knew. She knew about his feelings, yet she's dancing with another man. He's quite sure that she feels something, anything, towards him, yet she's denying it every chance she gets.

He moved to the other side of the round table, hoping to stop looking at them but felt Riley's eyes move with him.

 _Damn why did she have to be so damn beautiful and great? It would've been easier to stop myself from liking her!_

 **You said you needed a little time  
For my mistakes  
It's funny how you use that time  
To have me replaced  
But did you think that I wouldn't see you out at the movies  
What you doin' to me  
You're takin' him where we used to go  
Now if you're tryin' to break my heart  
It's working 'cause you know that**

"I believe that Riley still feels something towards him… Or else she wouldn't have showed up at all." Kayli said with a smirk as she also watched them. "She's actually better than that Miley, you know?" Lucas felt his hands form into tight fists. "With her all dolled up and dress up, she actually looks somewhat pretty and decent for him…. I think she made sure she looks good for Farkle… I believe they're going to make up after tonight."

"Kayli." He said in a warning tone. Kayli nodded and unlocked her phone with a huff. He went to her side with his hand held out and she locked her phone and gave him her hand silently.

 **That should be me  
Holdin' your hand  
That should be me  
Makin' you laugh  
That should be me  
This is so sad  
That should be me  
That should be me  
That should be me  
Feelin' your kiss  
That should be me  
Buyin' you gifts  
This is so wrong,  
I can't go on,  
Till you believe that  
That should be me**

They were now dancing beside Riley and Farkle.

That didn't stop both of them from looking at each other every chance they got as if they were playing a game of who would turn his eyes away first.

Riley couldn't stop that weird sensation, that she couldn't describe or name, from arising into the bit of her stomach as she watched the couple dancing together, with Kayli's head laid on Lucas' chest.

 _What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way?_

 **I need to know, should I fight for love or disarm  
It's getting harder to shield  
This pain in my heart  
That should be me  
Holdin' your hand  
That should be me  
Makin' you laugh  
That should be me  
This is so sad**

This was the verse Lucas related to the most. He just wanted to know whether she'd give him a chance or not. Whether she likes him for sure or likes someone else.

He needs to know if he should fight and try to make her his, like he really wants, or not.

 **That should be me  
Feelin' your kiss  
That should be me  
Buyin' you gifts  
This is so wrong,  
I can't go on,  
Till you believe that  
That should be me  
Holding your hand  
That should be me  
The one making you laugh, oh baby  
That should be me  
That should be me giving you flowers  
That should be me  
Talking for hours  
That should be me.**

"Do you feel better now?" Riley asked, and because of how close he was to her, Lucas could also hear her.

"I am… Thanks to you." Farkle answered with a smile which Riley returned.

Everyone suddenly started clapping as the maids rolled the cake into the back yard on the tray that has wheels. Caitlyn grinned and hurriedly went towards the cake. She held her hands into a praying position and made a wish before blowing the already lit candle.

* * *

"Yes?" Maya answered her phone. "What would I be doing? I'm just chilling on my couch… Of course I'm home… I just came home… What about you? What are you doing?" Right then, the doorbell rang through the house. "Josh, can I call you later? Someone is at the door…. Alright, bye!"

She opened the door and gave a polite smile. "Hello, may I help you, ma'am?"

The woman in front of her just grinned.

"Who are you, ma'am?" Maya asked in confusion but the woman just started laughing. "Why are you laughing?" Maya said in annoyance before going back into the house and shutting the door which the lady stopped her from doing.

"Maya, Maya! It's me, Josh!" Maya's blue eyes widened in shock before she hurriedly moved aside.

"Come in!" He did as she asked, struggling a bit because of the heels he was wearing. Maya closed the door and took a look at his appearance. He was wearing a pair of bright printed leggings, along with a bright pink button up and a pair of green heels. An outfit that no girl would ever think of putting together or even wearing every peace individually. He finished off his look with a blonde wig and bright pink lipstick and a foundation that is way too dark for his skin. "Babe, you look so pretty!"

"Hey! Don't laugh!" Josh said warningly as she doubled over in laughter.

"How can I not? Did you look at yourself?"

"What else could I do? You said that the neighbors can't see us so I thought about just coming like this… No one says anything when your female friends come over, do they?"

"No… they don't." She said through her laughter.

"And I took this from my brother's wife closet…" He says proudly.

"I must say, it fits you perfectly."

"It is but I can't take it… It's so fucking tight and it's hella hot out there… I feel like my stuff are getting cooked down there."

Maya reached out and touched the fabric of his leggings. "Off, these are ones we were during autumn and winter because they're a bit heavier so they keep us warm… Why did you wear that?"

"I can't walk around with hairy legs, what girl does that?"

"But I could've shaved it for you, babe." Maya said with a wink.

"Don't make fun of me, Maya… Look at what I did to myself, just for you!"

"Aweee… Did you want to see me that bad?" Josh couldn't help but smile and nod. Maya reached towards him and locked their lips together in a kiss.

"She kissed me! You just kissed me! Oh my god! There's proof as well… You kissed me!" Josh exclaimed in excitement.

"I have lipstick all over my lips now, don't I?"

"No, that can't happen… Our first kiss! I didn't imagine for our first kiss to be like that! I really didn't! Come here!" He yanked her to his chest and kissed her deeply using her surprise and slipping his tongue inside her mouth.

When they pulled away, Maya stumbled a little, feeling dizzy.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Thank you once again for tonight, Ian… Everything was spectacular…" Caitlyn said after Sofia had left them alone.

"Yeah… That's what I think too… Everyone had a lot of fun."

"What about you?"

Ian gave her a smile and pinched both her cheeks like he always does. "Of course I did too, baby girl."

Caitlyn smiled and decided to tell him. It was now or never. "I have something to tell you." Ian nodded for her to continue.

"I'm listening, Cait…" He said after a few moments of silence from Caitlyn's part.

"Well… First off, you look very handsome tonight." Face palm.

"Thank you, I dressed up for you." HE said with a light chuckle.

"Ian, I really like you… Like… I really really like you." She said and the smile dropped off of his face immediately. "For a long time now."

"Caitlyn… What are you saying, Caitlyn? Cait, I…" He struggled with his words, not knowing what to say. "You're like a sister to me… You've always been and you will always be." Caitlyn couldn't stop the tears from welling up into her eyes. "Oh, don't cry! Come here, baby girl." He took her hands in his softly but she immediately took them away. "Caitlyn… I'm so sorry… Let's forget that we ever had this conversation, can we?"

Caitlyn walked past him and hurried into the house, passing a very concerned Riley. Riley took her clutch and hurriedly went after Caitlyn.

"Caitlyn, are you okay? What happened?"

"I told him how I felt, Riley…" She said through her tears.

"I think that didn't go too well, huh?"

"I wish I didn't say anything… Now he knows and he doesn't feel a thing for me… He probably feels sorry for me… I don't think I'll ever be able to look him in the eyes once again."

"It's Ian, isn't it?"

"Yes… Unfortunately."

"Caitlyn… You shouldn't be sad and you definitely shouldn't cry… You acted very bravely… Maybe he didn't expect something like that so suddenly."

"He would've staying silent then… He ignored it… He told me to forget that we ever had this conversation."

"Cait… Leave things for time to handle them… If it's meant to be, It will happen… At the right time, sweetie… We don't know what might happen."

"It's over, Riley… He doesn't like me." Caitlyn whispered through her sobs.

"Oh, Cait…" Riley pulled her in a hug.

"I'm leaving, guys." Ian announced as he reached Farkle, Kayli and Lucas at the bar.

"It's still early." Lucas said.

"You know I have work tomorrow…" Ian said.

"We have work tomorrow as well." Lucas said with a smirk.

"Anyways, I'll see you later… Bye." Ian said and left them. Of all people that had to be getting out of the house, it was Riley and Caitlyn that were getting out of the house as he was heading inside. "I'm leaving." Caitlyn just looked right ahead with her jaw clenched. "Good night."

"Good night." Riley answered politely.

"Good night." Caitlyn said curtly before storming past him. Riley gave him a small smile which he returned with a weak one before leaving. Riley made her way towards where they were all standing.

"I think it'd would be best if I leave as well… Can you call a cab for me, please?" Riley said to Farkle.

"I can take you home… I mean… we can take you home." Lucas said, meaning himself and Kayli, without looking at her.

"No, you don't need to that… Thanks for the offer though." Riley said.

"But you can't just take a cab by yourself." Caitlyn said.

"Riley… I'll drive you home." Farkle said.

"There's really no need for that… I can go home by myself."

"No, you can't… I'm driving you home." Farkle insisted.

"Alright." She said with a nod before turning to Caitlyn. "Cait, Happy birthday once again, sweetie! It was a really great party."

"Thank you for coming, Riley. I'm so glad you did." Caitlyn said with a grateful smile and riley gave her a nod.

"Shall we go?" Riley nodded once again. "I'm gonna take her home and come back… Goodbye."

"We'd be gone by then." Lucas stated and didn't turn back at the pair left.

"They suit each other really well… I hope they make up." Caitlyn says with a hopeful smile.

"That's what I think too… Because Miley is history now." Kayli said with a giggle.

"Kayli… Let's get going, I have to wake up early tomorrow." He stood up, not giving her a chance to complain.

"You've become quite boring ever since you started working, Lucas." She said with a huff as she stood up while Lucas said goodbye to Caitlyn. She did as well and followed him.

 ***GMGWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"It was a very nice birthday party, wasn't it?" Farkle said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah… I couldn't see Caitlyn's first entrance but I'm sure that she was very surprised."

"She really was." He said with a chuckled and another wave of comfortable silence approached them. "By the way, thank you once again."

"What I did was nothing compared to what you did to me…"

"I'm so glad that you were by my side when I received that message and I'm so glad you were by my side tonight as well…"

"Thank you…"

"I feel better when I'm around you…" And once again silence invaded the car.

Unlike the peaceful journey the pair was having, Lucas' and Kayli's were nowhere near peaceful.

"Lucas, would you slow down a bit!?" Kayli exclaimed as she clutched the car door. Lucas was driving very fast and she was sure that he was waaaay past the speed limit.

"I am already driving slowly, Kayli."

"Oh yeah? You're driving as if you chasing something very hurriedly! Just slow down! We arrived anyways."

"Alright, I didn't notice." He said and slowed down the car a bit.

"Are you sure that you're really okay?"

"How many times do I have to answer that question, Kayli? I'm okay. I'm just tired."

"Alright, I'm not gonna press on it." Uncomfortable silence occupied the car for a few minutes until Lucas parked in front of her house. They both got out of the car. "Thank you, babe… We're doing something tomorrow, okay? You've been neglecting me ever since you started working."

"We'll see." Kayli gave him a smile and went to give him a peck on the lips when he hurriedly looked away, giving her his cheek instead. She pulled away slightly to look at him before kissing his cheek anyways and going inside the house.

Lucas went back into his car and drove back to his house and noticed that he arrived before them. He heard the sound of a car nearing their house so he hid behind a bush.

Farkle parked the car in front of the house and got out to open the door for Riley. They shook hands with smiles on the faces and Riley waited until he drove away before going inside.

Lucas waited until she passed him before grapping her arm and stopping her, making her gasp. "You scared me! What are you doing here?"

"Where were you? Why did you take so long?" Lucas asked.

"How is that any of your business?" She asked in confusion and yanked her arm away.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what the question means… It's none of your business… I don't need to tell you my every move."

"Will you answer my question?" He said sternly threw gritted teeth.

"I left the party and came home right away… That's all I did… Where did _you_ come from? You were still at the party when I left."

"I may have driven a bit fast." He said with a simple shrug.

"Someone is going to catch us, what do you want?"

"Did you think about what I told you?"

"Yes, I did. I'm not going to help you." She knew that wasn't what he meant.

"No, not that… The other thing I told you." She gave a small nod.

"Will you stop mocking me?"

"I'm _not_ mocking you."

"I don't have an answer to give you." She turned around to leave when his hand stopped her by grabbing her arm once again.

"Riley." He said.

"Will you let go of me?" She whisper-yelled as she yanked her arm away. He only took a few steps closer to her and took hold of both her wrists, gently. _Here are the damn butterflies and shivers again… Would you stop coming?_ She thought to herself.

"I know why you're acting like that." He said softly while looking into her eyes that were trying desperately to avoid his, while his thumps rubbed circles on her soft wrists.

"It's because you like me as well." He said with a soft smile and she just stared at him.

 _Why does sound real when I hear it from him?_

 _Why does it make me want to agree with him?_

 _I don't like him…_

… _. Or Do I?_

* * *

 **DANG! I feel so bad for leaving you with a cliff-hanger when I have no idea when I'll update again but eh... better than no update at all, huh?**

 **I just finished two weeks of midterms so my mum allowed me to take a break on my laptop so that's why I'm updating. It's almost 3AM And i'm afraid that she'll wake up and find me awake and still on my laptop lol... So imma make this AN short.**

 **I feel like a lot happened this chapter but most importantly, you finally know who Jessica is. Also, Cait finally tells Ian what she feels and we get to see a little cuteness between Ella and Minkus, and Joseph and Cathy.**

 **I'm honestly quite happy with this chapter, especially the ending. The only thing I'm not happy about is my song choice *Insert laughing emoji* I HATE Justin beiber and I think that this song specially is so cheesy but it's the only one that seems to fit the most. But I want you to listen to this cover as its supposedly the one that was playing at the party, not Justin's. It's a cover by ' Josh wright' and I think it sound beautiful so listen to it. **

**Anyways, like I said, I don't know when I'll update next so we'll have to wait and see...**

 **Oh and if you're wondering, Senior year SUCKS for me... I have an exam every other day and studying in Arabic is so damn hard. I'm pretty much depressed all the time nowadays and I work as a full-time Zombie lol.**

 **Anyhow, I'm so sorry for any mistakes but I don't have time to re-read it.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	27. Chapter 27: Smiling

"Riley." He said.

"Will you let go of me?" She whisper-yelled as she yanked her arm away. He only took a few steps closer to her and took hold of both her wrists, gently. _Here are the damn butterflies and shivers again… Would you stop coming?_ She thought to herself.

"I know why you're acting like that." He said softly while looking into her eyes that were trying desperately to avoid his, while his thumps rubbed circles on her soft wrists.

"It's because you like me as well." He said with a soft smile and she just stared at him.

 _Why does sound real when I hear it from him?_

 _Why does it make me want to agree with him?_

 _I don't like him…_

… _. Or Do I?_

They keep staring at each other for a few more moments before Riley snatches her wrists from his grasp.

"No. I don't like you." She snapped angrily before giving him a final glare and heading into the penthouse. Lucas' eyes followed her until she was inside before he gave a sigh and small smile appeared on his face.

"You do like me… very much, might I add." He said to himself with a smirk before heading inside the house as well.

They were both very tired so they went to bed straight after getting into their PJs.

And for the first time in a very long while, Lucas' alarm was the one to go off early, not Riley's. At 6AM sharp, the sound of his alarm woke him up and he turned it off and was about to go back to sleep before he remembered why he set it up so early in the first place. He gave himself a moment to fully wake up and smiled. _You won't run from me today, Riley Mathews._ He thought to himself before heading into his bathroom for his morning shower.

He finished his shower but decided against shaving the slight stubble that has grown on his face, liking the way it looked. He decided on a pair of denim jeans and paired it with a denim button up that he rolled it's sleeves up to his elbows. He added his favorite white watch and white Adidas shoes. He sprayed a good amount of his perfume before heading out of his room.

Since his parents didn't need to wake up until around seven or seven-thirty, he quietly closed the front door after himself. He found himself slowing down in front of the penthouse, trying to peek inside in case he sees her, when the door suddenly opens so he pretends like he was passing by the house instead of creepily staring inside.

"Good morning, Mr. Lucas." Topanga greets with a surprised smile. "Do you need anything?"

"Um… No, I don't need anything… I'm leaving anyways but thank you. Have a good day." He says with a grin and heads towards his car, leaving Topanga with her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"He's a good, kindhearted kid… but definitely a bit weird." She says to herself with a smile before heading into the kitchen.

Riley's alarm finally goes off and she immediately wakes up. To her dismay, the first thing she remembers from the previous night is him grabbing her wrists ever so softly. Her lips start to lift up into a smile before she frowns her eyebrows.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare allow him to have your heart, Riley Mathews. He can't have that." She says to herself before giving a huff and getting out of bed to get ready for the day.

She finished getting ready and sat down to tie the laces of her white timberland shoes or booties whatever you like to call them. She was wearing a romper that had colorful flowers on it and a zipper down the front that reached her waist. The zipper was denim colored so she paired her romper with a light washed denim vest. She kept her hair down since it still had the curls from the night before and kept her makeup very simple. She was just going to work anyways.

"Oh, Good morning, Riles! How was the birthday party?" Her mother asked when she found her awake and ready. She was coming to wake her up actually.

"It was great." Riley said with a smile and stood up.

"I fell asleep while waiting for you then I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night scared because I thought you weren't back yet but then I found you sleeping… I wanted to see you in your dress though."

"I didn't want to wake you, mummy… I'll show you the pictures when I come back from work though."

"They gave you a ride home, right?" Riley gave a nod and Topanga smiled at her.

"But I really need to go now." Riley said before grabbing her white backpack.

"But you didn't have breakfast… Riley, it's really starting to annoy me. You don't eat breakfast everyday… Is there someone chasing you? You leave the house quite early as well"

"It's okay, mum. Don't worry, me and Maya have something to eat before our shifts start… Besides, I'm late today anyways." If only she knew that she wasn't going to work at all. She gave her mother a kiss on her cheek and waved at her before heading out.

Outside the house, Lucas was waiting for her in his car. He was waiting far enough from the gates that no one would see him, but close enough that she'll only walk a few steps to reach him.

"Why is she late? I've been here since 6AM… It's impossible that she'd left before me…Where the hell is she?" Lucas said to himself, getting quite impatient. He waited a few more minutes before she finally made her way through the gates.

"I'm forced to see him every day at work since he's my boss. What am I going to do? Why am I so unlucky? What if I just look for another job? Oh but what will I say to Farkle then? Ughhhhh." She was mumbling to herself as she passed his car, completely oblivious that there was a car parked there in the first place.

"What the… Is she blind?" Lucas exclaimed to himself as she walked right past his car. He smirked before he started moving the car very slowly and poked his head out of the window before whistling a couple of times. "Will you just look at me, pretty thing? Where are you going? Hey…" He gave a few more cat calls that made her stop in her tracks. "Psssttt…. Psssttt… I like that romper, you know?"

She looked around her and spotted a rock that was as big as her entire palm and picked it up. "You Asshole! Who gave you the right to talk to me like that?!" She exclaimed as she turned around with the rock held high, ready to be thrown at the guy.

"Hey, Hey! Stop, it's me!" He said hurriedly as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

"What are you doing? I was just about to smack you in the head with the rock, you idiot!" She said in anger.

"Okay… Don't be mad, I was just joking around." He said with a grin.

"Joking around? You scared me!"

"Did I really scare you that much?" He said softly as he hands took hold of her face, his thumps gently rubbing her cheeks in circles. Riley just stared at him in shock. _Why is my heart beating so fast? Stop!_ "I'm so sorry… I didn't think that you'd be scared."

The way he was looking at her… the way he was holding her face so gently… the soft smile on his face… It all made her knees go weak. It all made her feel like she's special to him. The stone fell from her grasp and onto the floor with a thud, which seemed to bring her back to reality. She slowly stepped away from his hold and avoided his eyes.

"I'm fine." She said. Lucas couldn't help but smile wider. He was getting the reactions he wanted from her. The reactions that would prove to her that she actually feels something towards him.

"C'mon, then… Let's go together."

"No... I can go alone."

"Riley." He said in a voice that basically told her that he will have the final word. "I've been waiting for you for hours, C'mon." He didn't give her time to respond. He just grabbed her hand and led her around the car before opening the passenger's door for her. Riley kept looking around nervously before giving a sigh and getting into the car. He got in the car as well and gave her a smile before looking ahead. "Oh fuck! Fuck! Get down, Get down!" He said hurriedly.

"What's happening?" She asked but slid down in her seat anyways.

"It's my dad's car… I really hope that he's not in it."

"Is Uncle Shawn in the car?"

"Yeah." Riley gave a huff. "Just slide down more."

"Good morning, Mr. Lucas." Shawn said as came to a stop in front of Lucas' car. Lucas gave him a smile and a nod in return. "I went to get the car washed… I was planning to take yours as well but you left early." _So he's been really waiting for hours…_ Riley thought to herself.

"Um, yeah… That's what happened today… You can take it some other time then."

"Alright. Have a good day."

"You too." Lucas waited until Shawn drove into the house before giving Riley a nod to get back up.

"We almost got caught… AGAIN! There isn't a person that I haven't hid from because of you, Lucas." Lucas just gave a laugh.

"Just admit that you have so much fun with me." He said with the same grin but with a hint of a smirk.

"So much!" She mocked before looking away and smiling.

"HA! You smiled… I'm right, aren't I?"

"No, I didn't smile."

"You did."

"I didn't." She looked away and he chuckled before starting the car.

"Alright."

 _I will make you smile so much today to the point where your cheeks hurt from smiling too much. Just wait and see, Riley Mathews._

* * *

 **I'm baaaaaack!**

 **More like I'm on vacation till the first week of February so yeah.**

 **I know this chapter is so short compared to my other ones and it's definitely too short considering the fact that I haven't updated in so long. I just wanted to get something up as soon as I can so you. Today is my first day of vacation so expect more chapters to come.**

 **I haven't talked about the show with you guys in so long so why don't we talk about it?**

 **Have you watched GMGoodbye?**

 **I've just watched it and I was literally in tears. I really did cry while watching it (As well as GMSweetSixteen) and I don't know whether it's because the episode hit home for me or because I'm simply emotional because of how bad my mid year exams went. I've had to be separated from my childhood friends before and I wasn't even a junior. I was in sixth grade and while it didn't affect me much back then, it affected me more and more as I grew older. I know what it is to leave home to go find better opportunities and such so that's probably why it did hit me hard. Besides, the episode was beyond great.**

 **It annoys me that Disney decided to cancel it. There have been shows on Disney that were completely ridiculous yet they went on for more that 3 seasons, and when it comes to a show that HELPS people and is actually inspirational, they cancel it? Three seasons are not enough!**

 **Please you guys, do everything in your power to get the show picked up by another network. Our voices are being heard! We just need to be louder till we get what we want!**

 **You guys can check an account on instagram (makeluck) she gives all the details about the show and stuff.**

 **Anyways, I hope that you've enjoyed this little chapter... look out for more in the next few days.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneen.**


	28. Chapter 28: I will never

Riley stayed silent the entire car ride so far and Lucas didn't bother to start conversations because at this point, the fact that she's in the car with him is enough. The silence between them was undefinable. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfortable either.

Riley did have something to say when she noticed him missing the exit on the highway that took them to the club.

"Why did you go that way? The club is not this way, Lucas!"

"We're not going to the club." He said simply, with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Riley said and he couldn't figure it whether it was in panic or anger or both. "Where are we going then?"

"I'm kidnapping you." He said with a grin as he looked at her.

"What are you talking about, Lucas? Don't play around with me! I don't have time for your adventures, don't you get it?!" She said in anger although her voice was calm, which scared him a bit. "Take me to work, please."

"You don't believe me but I'm telling you, I'm very serious this time."

"Lucas!" She warned. "Don't make regret getting into your car."

"How about if I promise you that we'll really enjoy our time, this time? I promise you, Riles!"

"I don't freaking want to, though! I just want to go to work! Why is this hard for you to understand?!" She exclaimed and Lucas just gave a frustrated sigh and continued driving, ignoring her. "Lucas! Did you hear what I just said?!"

"You know… I never realized that my name could sound this good… Say it again." He said with a smile as he looked at her. Riley just stared at him before looking away as she felt a smile start to form on her face, wanting to hide it from him. "Look! You smiled again and you can't deny it this time around…. You also like me, don't you?"

"No!"

"No? So you don't like me, huh?"

"No, I don't like you and I don't plan on liking you!"

"Well I'm sorry to hear that but… If you really don't like me then you will like me…" Riley stared at him with her eyes wide open, innocently. "Because I will do everything I can to make sure that it happens, Riley Mathews." He said softly before grabbing her hand and planting a soft kiss on it before Riley slowly took it away and looked the other way.

"Lucas, can you please stop the car? I really have to go to work." Riley exclaimed again after a few moments of silence.

"You have the day off today so need for you to cause a problem out of this."

"I have the day off? No, I don't have the day off…"

"Well, I'm giving you the day off."

"Your arrogant actions drive me crazy!"

"I knew that you are crazy about me! Why are you denying it?"

"Hahaha…" She laughed sarcastically. "You're jokes kill me, Lucas."

"Ohhh… From day one you've been telling me that you go crazy and die because of me and such…" Riley couldn't help it this time and giggled. "Well, at least I can make you laugh and that is not an easy task."

"Lucas… I really have to go to work… Besides, I don't want you to give me vacation. I don't like these things."

Lucas huffed, "I can't do that for today but alright… It won't happen again, okay?" He gave her a genuine smile and she felt those damn butterflies again before noting that before, he rarely ever smiled. He'd always smirk and stuff. "Anyways, are you hungry?"

"No, I'm not." She said quickly but her stomach made its presence known but loudly grumbling making the brunette blush and the Texan chuckle.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Riley gave him a sheepish smile. "That's what I thought… Anyways, I'm hungry as well so let's start by having breakfast."

"Start?" She said in confusion. "Is there anything after that?"

"Do you want there to be anything after it?" He asked simply with a smile and Riley didn't seem to notice the flicker of hope mixed with doubt in his eyes.

"You never ask for my opinion… You put your plan and put it into action whether I like it or not so why bother with what I want?"

"Okay, okay… Let's get some fuel for the car first… We still have a long road ahead."

"Long?! Where are we going?"

"It is a long road but we don't have much left… It's a surprise." He gave her another smile and Riley sighed before resting her head on the headrest of her chair.

Lucas pulled up into the first gas station he spotted and they both got out of the car. "Fill it up, please." He said to worker before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and gave a huff after seeing Kayli's name on the screen. He looked up at Riley and found her grinning as the air hit her face lightly and blew her hair. She looked like a little child and he couldn't help but smile before looking back at his, still ringing, phone then back at Riley.

"Fuck this… Whatever happens, happens. I don't care anymore." He said to himself before turning his phone off completely. "Today is hers… and only hers." He made his way around the car. "I'm gonna go pay and get us some water… Do you want anything, Riles?"

"No…" She said with a shake of her head and he gave her a smile before walking away. She hated this. She hated how his smile left her dazed and made butterflies fly around her stomach. She hated how much she loved hearing him calling her 'Riles'. But what she hated the most was not knowing why she's feeling that way.

When she was sure he was inside the paying and food area, she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Maya's number.

"Pumpkin, where are you? I was just about to call you… I almost died out of worry, Riles!" Maya said as soon as she accepted the call.

"Maya… I'm with Lucas, Maya." She said and Maya couldn't define whether its fear or panic that was laced into her voice.

"What? What are you doing with him, Riley?"

"I don't know… He told me that we're going to have breakfast together and that's about it… I didn't understand either."

"Breakfast… a date! Riley you're officially going out together now." Maya said excitedly.

"Maya! What going out are you talking about? Stop being silly… You must've forgotten about Kayli, huh?"

"I get it now… You're thinking about her but in my opinion, you shouldn't… He'll leave soon anyways." Maya said as a matter of fact. "Besides, Riles, even if he's not going to leave her soon… You're the one he chose to spend the day with, not her. That must mean something, Riley… You just don't want to admit it… Give the guy a chance… Give yourself a chance and just simply enjoy the day with him… God knows what adventure you'll go through today."

Riley sighed before she saw Lucas coming towards her from afar. "He's coming, I have to go."

"Alright, enjoy!" Maya said before hanging up.

"I hope you like it… I mean, it's not as pretty or as cute as the one you drew but… You'll remember me when you look at it." Riley gave him a confused smile but took the bag from his extended hand anyways.

"What is it?" She stuck her hand into the bag and took out a black and white bull that had big baby pink lips and small ears in the same baby pink color and a dark pink ribbon around his neck. Riley burst out in laughing once she saw it and Lucas instantly grinned.

"It's impossible for me no to remember you when I see it." She said, still giggling. "But it's so cute! Look at it!" She finally noticed the double meaning of her words and looked up at him. He was looking at her very softly with an even softer smile on his face. "Um… I… I um… I meant that the teddy is so cute… That's what I meant." She hurriedly put it back into the bag and he grinned at her nervousness.

She hurriedly turned around and got into the car and he stood in front of her window and just stared at her. She had her eyes wide open innocently again but with a hint of a blush on her face. He chuckled as he saw her struggling with her seatbelt before shaking his head and going around the car and getting inside.

* * *

"I'm done eating… I'll be in my room." Caitlyn said to her dad and Farkle with a smile before heading out of the dining room.

Minkus looked at his son that hadn't uttered a word since he came back from his morning run other than 'Good morning'.

"Are you okay, son? I saw the news…" Because Miley is an actress and Farkle isn't unknown either, their relationship was almost never private. So when the pictures of Miley and her co-star came out, they had to be today's top news. The headlines said that she cheated on Farkle Minkus which is very true but he would've preferred if that didn't come out.

"I'm okay, dad… You were right… Miley is over for me… I'm turning her page away but… I don't want to talk about it."

"I know you're now very upset but in my opinion, I think this was for the best… You could've gotten more hurt in the future if you'd stayed together… You deserve someone better, son." Farkle just stayed silent, his lips in a thin line. "Alright, I won't talk about this anymore."

"I'd really appreciate that."

"I'm gonna go see Ella today… What are you going to do?"

"I don't have anything planned but…" He sighed before continuing, "Dad, I think it would be best if you tell Cait about Ella… Because it might be really bad if she hears about it from someone else."

"You're right son… I haven't been able to find a suitable opportunity but I'll definitely talk to her tonight… She'll put us through hell if she found out about this from someone else."

"Unfortunately, there won't be a need for that talk." Said a women that has been watching the entire thing on her phone since she had a spy camera in their house.

"Oh, what is this dad? Did Cait get this for her birthday?" Farkle asked as he picked up the big white teddy bear that was sitting on a high table. What he didn't know was that it was only in the house to spy on them. "It's really cute."

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"You don't do any work…" Lucas said with a shake of his head.

"Didn't you say that I have the day off?"

"A person turns on the radio for some good music when they're in the car… That's what I meant." Riley smiles and reaches over and turns the radio on.

 **Tired, tired, you're all I want, yeah**

 **It'll be 'til the end, give me nothing I've ever tried**

 **It'll be the perfect sin, something like the truest lie**

 **Everywhere somehow, the only place I'll ever be**

 **As long as you hold me down, oh such a liberty**

 **Warm me with your touch, pressure from your fingertips**

 **Never be enough, I'll do nothing but submit**

 **I just wanna feel a thousand hands from you, only you**

 **Can you make me feel a thousand hands from you, only you?**

"I love this song." They both said at the same time.

"See? The things we have in common are appearing little by little."

"I'm surprised."

"Why? Can't we have things in common?" Lucas asked with his eyebrows frowned in confusion.

Riley looked at him for a few moments before looking away. "We're very different from each other… that's why it surprised me."

"I feel like it's not important if two people are alike or not… As long as their hearts beat together, for each other." Lucas said softly as he looked at her and she looked at him as well. They kept staring at each other.

 **Grab a hold of my soul and make me feel complete within**

 **you'll be the one to show these goosebumps on my skin**

 **I'll wear my heart on my sleeve, I need you to feel the pain**

 **Would you take a bullet for me? Cause you know I'll do the same**

"Will you get me a bottle of water please?" Lucas asked and Riley reached into the backseat and grabbed a bottle of water from the ones that he bought at the gas station. She extended her hand towards him and he smirked before quickly hiding it. "Riley… I'm driving… Open it for me, please." He gave a smile that she returned and opened the bottle for him before handing it to him. He took a sip before giving it back to her. "If you're hungry, I bought some snacks as well."

"No… I'm not hungry… I can wait… When will we get there though?"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." They smiled at each other and Riley went back to resting her head on the headrest.

After a few more minutes of driving, Lucas finally stops the car and they both get out. Riley looks at the place in awe. It was filled with trees that you could mistake it with a forest but that's what made it breathtakingly pretty. There was a little restaurant surrounded by a small white fence in the middle of the trees.

"Here we are!" Lucas said with a grin.

"This place is…" She looked around some more. "Beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it." He said happily with a big grin on his face. "It's a good thing we came here." Riley couldn't recall ever seeing him so happy. His grin was of a little kid that you just gave some of his favorite candy. "Let's go in."

They made their way into the colorful restaurant until they reached the other side of it that overlooked a lake. It had a staircase that led to a few boats that you have to move it by pedaling like a bicycle.

"This place is truly beautiful… I really like it, thank you for bringing me here."

"You've never been here before?"

"We had a little beach house near here when I was little… very little." She said after a few moments of silence. "My dad built it himself. We had to sell it when my dad passed away though… And I've never been here since then." She said before sitting down on one of the benches of the table and Lucas sat on the other to be facing her.

"Welcome to our restaurant, how can I help you?" A waiter asked them with a smile and Lucas returned it.

"Hello… We want your famous breakfast." He said to the guy before turning to Riley, "Do you want omelets? I like mine with cheese."

"Me too…" She said with a surprised smile.

"See! Another thing in common…. I knew already, though…"

"How did you?"

"Your mother told me." He said as a matter of fact.

"Have you talked to my mother about me?" She asked in panic.

"Yeah, we talk all the time."

"What?!"

"I'm just kidding, calm down." He said with a chuckle. "I asked your mother for a cheese omelet once and she told me that her daughter likes it as well… I didn't forget it, that's all."

Riley smiled before looking down then suddenly realized the presence of the waiter so she looked up at him before looking at Lucas who was just staring at her with a grin. She cleared her throat and he finally remembered.

"Oh, sorry! Um, we'll take two cheese omelets and two cups of tea… Do you want anything else?" Riley shook her head.

"Alright, that will take 5 minutes approximately." The waiter said before leaving.

"We forgot that he was waiting… Wow." Lucas said with a chuckle.

"That was very inappropriate of us." Riley said with a giggle as well. "That also happens to me sometimes, you know? There was this married couple at the club a couple of days ago and I went to take their order… They bickered for ten minutes non-stop… Ten minutes!" She cringed as she remembered. "And then the very short shift I had in your hotel in Miami, I was taking an order from a couple and they just started kissing out of nowhere… It was so freaking awkward, Lucas!"

Lucas laughed as he saw her cringe again. "We're a lot better then." He said and Riley looked down at her lap with a blush. "I'm really hungry, you know?"

"Me too." Lucas felt silence coming and he didn't want that.

"Um... We can escape to this place every once in a while if you liked it, eh?"

"Lucas..." Lucas looked at her but this time she didn't miss the hope that was filling his eyes. "This is the first and last time… Even if I say that we came here as friends… It's still not acceptable."

He looked down and when he looked back up, Riley could swear that she's never felt guiltier. The hope was slowly leaving his eyes and his smile was nowhere to be seen.

"Look… You put me in really hard situations… If my mum ever saw me with you, she'll put me through hell, Lucas… She even warns me a thousand times per day about bumping into you in the house. 'They have a son… Don't mingle in the house for too long and don't let them feel like you're there'" She explained calmly. "That's why she'll kill me if she knew about this, Lucas."

"So you act this way with me because you're afraid of your mother."

"That's one of the reasons."

"What else is there?"

"Off, Lucas! Stop asking me questions." She gave a huff. "Look, I've never gave anyone the opportunity to utter a _word_ about my mother or how she raised me until this day and time… Hell! I scan the place _fifty_ time when I'm going to the kitchen! I hardly go to the backyard because I don't want to be seen… Do you understand me?" He gave her a small nod. "I don't want to lose my job and I certainly don't want to make my mum lose hers… If word gets out in the club that there's anything between us… Things will be anything but good for me…The things you do without thinking affect me, Lucas."

"I understand." He said with a nod. "I'm sorry, Riles… I never really thought about it from this side… I'll be more careful from now on… I promise you." Riley gave him a small thankful smile. "But since we're here now… Away from the club, your mother, my parents… Let us enjoy our time here, is that possible?" He gave her a smile filled with hope, his eyes begging her to give this day a chance.

Then he reached across the table and took her hands in his very softly, his thumps rubbing circle on the back of her hand as Riley just stared at him.

She slowly took her hands away from his and watched as the hope was wiped away from his faced and replaced by hurt. They stayed silent for a few minutes with Lucas looking at the lake to avoid looking at her and Riley staring at him with guilt washing over her.

Their food then arrived and they started eating, although they both lost their appetite.

"So um… You're not as comfortable as I thought you were… Were you able to get used to the new house, though?"

"If it wasn't for your family, I don't know what would've happened to us and that's why I can't complain… But we really have to figure out another solution for ourselves as soon as possible."

"What's the need for that? I think everything is pretty good right now…"

"My mum is so bothered by this and so do I… Especially if she hears that I got to know you and lied to her… She'll be really mad at me and she won't stay an extra minute in that house… My mum is everything to me, Lucas… She's all I have, do you get that?" Lucas nods. "That's why she can't know that I got to know you or what we went through together."

"I understand… I already promised you that I'll be more careful… I don't break my promises, you know that…"

"I do…" She said before running a hand into her hair. "Anyways, how's working going?"

"Nothing is good so far." He said with a small smile before his face turned serious. "I can't do it without you… I couldn't, Riles…I can't even imagine what the manager will do… What kind of man is that? His eyes are watching me like a hawk! Everything I do, he narrates it to my father."

"Didn't you have work today?"

"I also have the day off." He said with a smirk as he leaned back on the bench. "Actually, the manager doesn't know about that yet."

"What if he call your father when he doesn't see you?"

"That's for sure."

"Your dad will be really mad at you, for sure as well." She said with a smile and shook her head.

"So why don't we stop talking about that for now?" He told her with a smile before leaning on the table. "I want the lecture that I'm going to hear to be worth it."

"Alight… What do we talk about then?"

"Hmmm…." He hummed as he leaned back again. "For example, you can tell me how and when did you know that you like me?"

"Lucas!" She warns and he just smiles.

"Alright, let me tell you then" Riley stares at him for moment before she leans on the table and rests her head on her fist and Lucas mimics her actions. "You're crazily curious about what I'm about to say, aren't you?"

She looks at him and sits up and he mimics her once again. "No."

"Not at all?"

"Not at all."

"You're not curious… Not even this much?" He holds his thump and pointer finger near each other leaving a very small gap in between.

"Not even this much." It was her turn to mimic him.

"You're such a… curiosity-lacking person."

"Well, a person doesn't feel curious about what he doesn't believe."

"Ohhh so that's what's going on…. You don't believe that I like you?"

"No, of course I don't believe you." She said.

"I don't like you anymore anyways." He said in a very serious voice and Riley didn't know why, but she felt her heart drop and her eyebrows frowned together. "Because I feel a lot of things towards you… 'Like' is not enough anymore."

"I'm full, can we leave now?" She said and hurriedly got up but Lucas grabbed her arm and stopped her from leaving.

"If you don't believe my feelings for you… Then why are you so afraid of me?" He said with a soft smile and Riley gently pushed his hand away from her arm before looking away. "I'm also full so yeah, we can leave… We have a lot more to do."

"Can't we just go back home?" She said as she watched him slip a fifty dollar bill along with a ten dollar bill under the edge of the plate for the waiter to take them as they payment.

"I don't want any complaints, Okay?" She huffed and looked away from him and he took the opportunity to his favor. He wrapped an arm around her waist and the other around her legs and picked her up bridal style.

"LUCAS!" She hurriedly wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing? Put me down! Lucas!"

"Raise your voice more, will you? Put even more attention on us if you want."

"Please don't drop me…" She said as she tightened her hands around his neck and he laughed as he headed outside the restaurant with her in his arms.

"I will never." He promised.

* * *

 **I'm pretty confident with this chapter. I know that a lot of you will really like it because I think this is the most Rucas-centric chapter I've written in a while... but that could just be the fact that I haven't written anything at all in a while lol.**

 **Next chapter won't be as happy though. Tears will be shed and a few parts will be filled with pain for our favorite couple. I'm sorry in advance.**

 **I'm so sorry for taking long to post this but I wasn't in the best condition during this past week. I was physically and emotionally weak since it was a very rough week for me. Then when I was good enough to sit down and write, my dad took my laptop to do some stuff on it since he has a MacBook and he can't do them on it. So yeah, sorry.**

 **I want to clear something up. A Guest reviewer reviewed on the last chapter saying that Lucas and Kayli will eventually be related, how can they get married? As far as I know, If a guy and a girl are not related by blood or have been breast fed by the same woman, then they can get married, right?** **Hell, even Farkle can marry Kayli if he wants, you know? They're not related by blood so there's absolutely no problem for them to get married.**

 **Do you know why Lucas bought Riley a bull in particular? You guys should definitely know this.**

 **Also, do you know who's spying on the Minkus' household?**

 **I really like it when you guys take the time to review and talk to me in the reviews and such so please do so and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them.**

 **Oh and btw, The song I used is called 'Thousand hands' by Fifth Harmony... It's an 'unreleased' song I believe that didn't make it into 7/27 and I really recommend hearing it because it's amazing and the melody is so good.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Haneenxx**


	29. Chapter 29: Do I give up?

Minkus' driver pulls up in front of Ella's house and Minkus gets out with a bouquet of white roses, Ella's favorite, in his hand. He keeps it behind his back as he approaches the front door and rings the doorbell. Ella opens the door and greets him with a hug and a peck on the lips.

Unknown to them, was the person that has been following Minkus around since he left the house and was currently taking pictures of him and Ella, hugging and kissing.

"Too bad you won't get to tell yourself…" Jessica said as she sent the pictures to Caitlyn.

Caitlyn was with Sofia, talking about what went on with Ian the night before, when he phone dinged a few times.

"I wonder who it is…" She said as she picked her phone up from the table.

"Maybe it's Ian!" Sofia said excitedly and Caitlyn just shook her head.

"It's a blocked number…" She opened the pictures and the color drained from her face.

"Caitlyn… What's wrong? Who is it?"

"No…" She zooms on the picture more. "No, this can't be true…"

"Tell me what's wrong, Cait?"

"Sofia, it's my dad!" She exclaims and shows her the pictures.

"Oh my God! That's Ella!" Sofia exclaims in shock. "Kaylie's mother…"

"I'm losing my mind here… When the hell did this happen?"

"I'm so shocked… You've never noticed this?"

"How would I know that my dad is in a relationship with someone, Sofia?! Let alone her! He's with her! How could he do that?!"

"Alright… Calm down, Cait… calm down."

"How can I?! Haven't you seen the pictures?"

"Maybe your father was waiting for the right time to tell you… Maybe they're-"

"There's no acceptable excuse for this so cut the bullshit."

"Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

Caitlyn looks at her with a glare before shaking her head. "Sofia, I don't want to talk anymore. Would you leave me alone?"

"No, you're not okay right now. I can't just leave you."

"Well, I'm fine, okay? And I want to stay alone!" She said in frustration before getting up and heading up the stairs, Sofia following her. She went into her room and locked the door.

"Caitlyn, open the door please!"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE, SOFIA! LEAVE!" She shouted in anger before sitting on her bed as the tears fell freely from her eyes. "I hate everyone!"

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"He's been doing that a lot lately… It's like I'm not a part of his life anymore… I don't deserve that, Farkle." Kayli said after taking a sip from her Cola. She'd decided to go to the club to 'surprise' Lucas and see what he's up to and when she didn't find him anywhere, she called Farkle who had just finished taking a swim in the club's pool. She asked to see him and here they are.

Farkle took both of her hands in his and gave her a soft smile. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him for you."

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would… He doesn't have the right to make you so upset… I won't let him even though he is my cousin."

"That really made me feel like I do have a brother." She said with a grateful smile which made Farkle grin. "And that felt really good."

"Farkle Minkus, at your service." He said jokingly before tipping his imaginary hat and winking at her which made her giggle.

"Anyways… I'll get going." She said before standing up, Farkle following suit and hugging her. "Call me if you hear anything from him…"

"Alright, I'll call you." He promised with a nod.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Farkle gives her a wave and watches her as she leaves before picking his phone up. "What kind of mistakes are you doing this time, Lucas?" He says to himself. "I wonder if Riley knows anything that we don't about this…"

Farkle heads into the restaurant area but only finds her friend. _What was her name again?_ "Maya… Hey."

"Hey…" She greets him with a smile as she looks up at him.

"How's work going?"

"As great as it can be, thankfully."

He looks around them some more. "Riley's not here? I don't see her anywhere…"

"Yes, she's not here…"

"Is she on vacation?"

"Yeah, she is…"

"Have you talked to her at all today?"

"I'm sorry but what's with the investigation? Is something wrong?" She folds her arms over her chest.

"Well… It's not about Riley but… We have a problem that has to do with Lucas… We can't reach him and his girlfriend came here and when she didn't see him…"

"She jumped to some conclusions…" She finishes for him. "I don't know, Farkle…. Lucas is…" She trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"Lucas is with Riley."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, I wouldn't say it if I'm weren't sure…. Riley called me this morning and told me."

"Aha… Well at least we know who he's with." He gave nod. "Anyways, thank you… Have a good day."

"Thank you, you too." She gives him a small smile and he turns around and walks a few steps away.

"What the hell are you up to this time, Lucas?" He mumbles to himself and takes out his phone. His finger hovers above Riley's contact before he shakes his head and locks it up again and leaves.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"Where are you, Lucas? Where the hell are you?" Kaylie said to herself as she tried calling him again after getting into a Taxi. She then decided to call her mother.

"Hey, Kaylie." Ella greeted after setting a bowl of salad on the table in front of Minkus.

"I came to the club but Lucas is not here either, mom."

"He's not? Where is he then?"

"As if I know! I don't know, and Farkle doesn't know either… Neither of us was able to reach him… This is too much, mom! I'm so sick and tired of his irresponsible actions! I'm tired of feeling like I'm worthless to him! I'm really upset, mom."

"You know I'll never let anyone make you upset, baby girl. Call Cathy and if she's free then go to their house… I'll come as well."

"Okay, mom." Kaylie says and hangs up.

"Something wrong, babe?" Minkus asks in concern.

"Yes… Lucas is starting to become a problem to Kaylie… I can't just sit around and watch my daughter being sad…. I can't do that anymore… I'm going to talk to Cathy and Kaylie is also going there right now…"

"Alright, love… I'm also coming with you." Minkus said, taking both her hands in his. "We are a family now and we'll solve everything together, okay?"

"It's so good that you're here…" She trailed off in a whisper before hugging him tightly.

"I'll always be there for you, Ella… Always." He says sincerely. Ella gave him a nod and a smile.

"I'll go grab a jacket…" It was his turn to give her a nod.

"Alright… I'll go wait in the car." They both get up and she walks upstairs while he fixes his hair in the mirror. That was when his phone started ringing in his pocket. "Hey, so-"

"Something bad happened…" Sofia said as soon as he answered the call.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"It's about Cait… She found out about your relationship with Kaylie's mother…"

"What?! But… how?"

"Someone sent her pictures of you two hugging and kissing and such… She doesn't know who sent it since it's a blocked number."

"Damn it! How's Cait right now?" Right then, Ella made her way back downstairs.

"I just left your house… She didn't want me there with her but I didn't want her to stay by herself… She's not okay at all…"

"Okay, honey…. Thank you… I'm on my way home."

"Okay." Sofia said before hanging up.

"What happened, Minkus?" Ella asked, her eyebrows frowned in worry.

Minkus leans on the little isle that's under her mirror and sigh tiredly before looking at her. "Caitlyn found out about us…"

Ella's eyes go wide and she gasps in shock. "What?! How?!"

"Apparently someone sent her pictures of us together…. And she's pretty much in shock right now." He sighs, "I should've talked to her a long time ago…"

"I don't know what to say…"

"I have to go home…"

"Of course… I hope nothing bad happens between you two… Do you need me there with you?"

"No… I think it will just add more fuel to the fire if she sees you with me right now… I need to face her alone."

"Alright, love… I'll call you tonight." Minkus nods and kisses her cheek before leaving the house. "Who the hell could've taken our picture? Who could be so hateful towards us to do this?"

Ella shakes her head and leaves the house as well before getting into a taxi.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"I haven't been in one of those since I was a little kid…. Can we ride it, please?" Riley asks excitedly as she spots the pedal boats (A boat that has pedals so you move it with pedaling –Just google it.)

Lucas looks at her with a smirk, "What happened? Just a moment ago you were demanding to go home."

"Let's enjoy our time since we're here…" She gave him a sheepish smile which he returned with a grin.

"Good girl… You listen to me, after all."

"Don't get way over your head here..."

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up." He says with a smile.

"We'll ride it then."

"Are you serious? I'm most likely not going to ride this, Riley."

"Pardon, Mr. Friar." She folded her arms over her chest. "You're used to big boats and yachts, not this kind of simple rides."

"That's not the reason, Riles."

"What is it then?"

He couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked and gave her nod, "Alright, alright."

Her frown turned into a grin, he didn't think it was possible but his smile got even wider. "Wonderful!" She said excitedly and jumped up and down like a little kid, making him chuckle.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW***

"I'm having important guests so can you please cook us some of your amazing appetizers? Oh and a good dinner as well?" Cathy asked Topanga after she made her way into the kitchen. Topanga gave her a nod and a smile. She then turns to Katy. "Katy, Kaylie and Ella are coming so make them prepare the dining table beautifully."

"Alright, Mrs. Cathy." Katy says with a nod.

"Let me call me son to tell him to come early." Cathy says and both Topanga and Katy give her smiles.

"The person you are calling cannot be reached right now, please try again later or leave a message after the Beep." The automated voice says just like it's been saying to everyone who's been calling Lucas.

"Where the hell are you?" Cathy mumbles to herself before turning to them. "He can't be reached… I'll call him again." She says with a smile and leaves the kitchen.

"If Mr. Lucas is missing or 'Unreachable' then we have to make ourselves ready for the headlines of tomorrow's news." Katy tells Topanga in a whisper.

"Does he make his mother upset often, Katy?" Topanga asked in a whisper as well.

"No… He's actually a really good guy but he's also young. He likes going out and enjoying his time… But they're going to be engaged soon and he'll settle down a bit."

Outside, Cathy was still trying to get hold of Lucas. She's tried calling, texting, and leaving voicemails but still nothing.

"Oh, he's at the club… Why don't I just call him there?" She mumbles to herself as she dials his office's phone. When she gets no answer, she calls the main desk. "Hello, I'm Cathy Friar… May I speak with Lucas, please?" She listens to the other person's voice. "He's not there? Did he leave? What? He didn't come today at all? Alright, thank you… Have a good day." Cathy says before hanging up. "Oh Lucas! If Joseph hears about this… If you're not with Kaylie, then you must be with Farkle…"

She hurriedly dials Farkle's number. "Hey, Farkle… How are you? I was wondering if Lucas is with you?"

Farkle holds back a huff before answering. "No, I didn't see him or talk to him today."

"I'm very worried… That's why I called you, dear." They say goodbye and Cathy heads back towards the backyard to wait for Kaylie.

 ***GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW** *

"I still can't believe we're using this." Lucas said with a chuckle while he pedaled the boat alone with Riley. "I never even knew that this thing existed!"

"But how? Isn't super fun?" Riley said with a giggle.

"Yes, it is very fun!" He looks at the way Riley is pedaling and smirks. "Look at her smug face! As if she's better than me…. What is this called again?"

"Pedal boat." Riley answered with a grin.

"Whoever sees you, would think that you're a masterful pedal boat driver." Lucas teased her.

"Well, I also have things that I know and am good at." She said smugly before sticking her tongue out childishly, making him laugh loudly.

"I'm tired thought… Can we stop for a bit?" He said with a huff as he massaged the muscles in his thighs through his jeans. _Pedaling and jeans don't work well together_ … He thought.

Riley sighs before smiling, "Okay." She stops pedaling as well and looks around. "My dad used to bring me here every summer when I was a little kid… We would ride bikes together and race each other…. We would play with sand and build sand castles since my relationship with the sea is not well…. He would try to teach me how to fly a paper kite but I never succeeded…" She gives a small giggle although her eyes are slightly tearing up. She takes a deep breath before speaking again, "When we came here today… I remembered all those memories…. How easy things were… How would my life have been if he were here…" She reaches up and wipes the corner of her eyes where the tears have gathered and sniffs.

Lucas smiles slightly, "We probably wouldn't have met each other…"

"Possibly, yeah." She said mirroring Lucas' smile. "Everything was much harder for my mum… She carried the responsibilities of life on her own… She always tried to give me everything that I want…"

"Mrs. Topanga is very kind and special…. Especially her food, truly legendary."

"Ohhhh, that's right!" She giggled. "I also learnt a few things from her."

"Yeah but we have yet to eat your pasta."

"I will make you pasta… I promise." She said without thinking and Lucas just stares at her with a soft smile on his face. "Um… I mean… I can make it for you to eat it with your mum and dad."

"Alright, Riley… Make it, and I'll eat it somehow." Riley nods and they both look away for a minute. "I'll ask you something… I believe that this thing being ridden by someone who can't swim is very strange… I mean, it's not trusty… don't you think?"

"No! I've ridden it so many times." She said with a scowl and Lucas couldn't help but think about how cute she looked.

"I don't know… What if it just tips over?" He frowned in fake-confusion.

"Lucas, don't scare me!" She whined, fear already written all over her face.

"I didn't say it to scare you." He told her seriously. "Besides, I'm right here and I won't let anything happen to you… Ever. Don't worry."

"Oh, yeah? You almost drowned me! I haven't forgotten that." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't know back then…. But I did fix it and saved you, didn't I? And I tried to help you overcome your fear."

"Yeah… Thank you so much." She said sincerely. "But I can't learn swimming in one day… One needs practicing."

Lucas thinks about a reply for a few moments, "We can practice it together after leaving the club. Isn't that possible?"

"No, no need." She says immediately before realizing that he might get the wrong idea. That she's saying no because she doesn't want to spend time with him. _I can't imagine having his hands on my body like that again though…_ she thinks to herself. _What? What the hell am I saying?_ "I mean, I'm scared."

Lucas nods and silence engulfs them for a minute. "Thank you… It was an interesting experience."

"It was for me as well. It was very fun."

"What do we do now? Shall we go to the beach? It's very near."

Riley looks at him with a frown. "Can we go home?"

"Just a little more, Riley… I haven't had enough of you yet… Just give me a little more." He says softly and she swears she can hear her heart beating in her chest and wonders for a moment if he can hear it too. They keep staring at each other for a few moments before Riley nods and looks away. They started pedaling again and after a few minutes, they reach where they took the boat from and return it.

Lucas gets out and helps Riley out and she tries to ignore the tingles that go up her arms when he holds her hand in his. They start walking towards the beach and soon enough they reach it and take off their shoes.

They started walking on the sand, letting the feet sink into the water as the waves hit their feet.

"The place here is so beautiful!" Riley expresses in awe as she looks at the crystal blue sea along with the clear sky that sink into the sea perfectly.

"Yeah… It's very quiet as well…. I've come here a lot but this is the first time I've ever noticed how beautiful this place is." He says, looking at her. The way the sun hit her face made her even more perfect in his eyes and the way the perfection of the scenery behind her mixed in with her… It was a vision that needed to be made into an epic piece of art. She was a piece of art by herself.

Riley caught onto the double meaning and looked at him shyly before looking at her feet.

Lucas skips a few steps ahead and puts his shoes on the dry sand and Riley follows suit. He then picks up a pebble from the sand and throws it in the sea.

"I love that!" Riley says in awe. "I can never do it, you know?"

"How? You've never thrown a pebble when you were young?"

"My dad tried teaching me a few times but I always failed." She says with a shrug.

"It's very easy, though… I'm sure you can do it." He starts looking for another pebble and when he finds one, he picks it up. He stands behind Riley to teach her. "You'll hold it sideways like that," He shows her while holding her hand after putting the pebble inside it. "And then you wanna throw it while keeping it parallel to the ground… It's very simple."

"Okay…. Like that?" She shows her but doesn't throw it.

"Yeah, hold it sideways and then throw it." HE says and it was then that Riley noticed how close he was standing. She looked up at him while he looked down at her. His eyes went to her lips for a moment before going back to her eyes. Surprisingly, Riley's eyes did the same exact trip before she looked away and nodded and turned towards the sea. "C'mon."

"I can't do it." She said when she failed.

"Yes you can." She found her another pebble and handed it to her. "You'll hold it like this…. And then throw it parallel." She nods.

This time and for the first time ever, she succeeds. "YAAAAY! I DID IT!" She says and jumps up and down before turning towards him and wrapping her arms around him.

"You did!" Lucas' arms go around her waist despite his surprise and a huge grin takes place on his face. Riley leans back and looks at him, having an internal fight between her heart that's beating like crazy, and her mind that's cursing her for acting like that. They keep staring at each other as if they were in their own little world before Riley finally pushes herself away from him. Lucas' smile instantly wipes away and he avoids her eyes for a moment, but when he looks at her, she can see that he was hurt by her action.

"We can sit down if you want…" He says quietly, "Your clothes will probably get dirty but…" He says, eyeing her white floral romper.

"What harm can some sand cause?" She jokes with a slight awkward smile. "We can sit." Lucas nods and steps back, letting her lead the way. They take their shoes and go towards a place that is far enough that the waves won't reach them and sit down.

Lucas keeps staring at Riley, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say or how to say it. He finally sighs and speaks while looking at the sea. "I hope you understand that I was serious about what I said… I like you, Riley… And it's been a very long time since I ever like anyone." He looks at her and he sees her take a deep breaths and he smiles. "You normally speak without taking a breath but now…"

"What are you waiting for me to say?"

"What's inside you… What you really feel." He says simply. "I want you to put everything and everyone aside and tell me what you're thinking about and only that."

Riley looks at him for a moment before grabbing her bag that she'd laid next to her. "It would be better if we go." She starts getting up but Lucas grabs her arm and stops her.

"Riley, please! Please stop running away every time I open this subject… Please say something." Riley just stars at him silently and chuckles sarcastically. "Alright, let's just sit here the entire day cause I'm not leaving and neither are you until you talk."

"I don't have anything to say to you." She says and takes her arms out of his grasp. "Lucas… This is the first and last time… This day can't happen again… Do you understand that?"

"Alright." He says curtly. "As you like." They both stay silent for a bit. One of them feels guilty, while the other is purely hurt. "C'mon let's go." Riley nods and stands up.

Lucas looks at her as he walks next to her towards the car and his only thoughts are,

 _Do I really have no chance with her?_

 _Does she really feel nothing for me? But how? How can I feel something so strong for her and she feels nothing for me?_

 _Should I give up and try to forget?_

… _. But even if I do give up, will I be able to forget her?_

 _No. I won't._

* * *

 **First and foremost, You don't need to tell me that I'm the worst writer ever. I know that I am and I'm personally very mad about it.**

 **Honestly, you guys, I barely have time to myself. I don't even have time to go out on the weekend. Do you think I'd have time to open my laptop and write? I wish I had my chapters pre-written, then life would've been much easier. I only have one months left before the school year ends and I'll be back to updating.**

 **Someone in the reviews told me that I should update more, Trust me I know that I should... And I wish I can but it's not something that's up to me. I'm so sorry.**

 **Originally, this chapter was supposed to go up the day after chapter 28 did but I wasn't done writing it unfortunately. Even now, I'm posting it and I didn't even end it on what I had originally planned. It was supposed to end with Rucas' day ending, and yes their day is not done yet.**

 **Given the fact that I wrote this almost 2 months ago and I only added a small bit tonight and it's already late enough, I don't have time to check for any mistakes, so if you stumble upon any, please forgive me. I have this huge headache and I can't look at the screen long enough to check for mistakes, sorry.**

 **Regarding your review, dear *interested guest*, At this point, Lucas doesn't necessarily feel like Kayli's boyfriend. You know like... When the new iPhone 7 plus comes out and you have the 7... You become interested in the new one, forgetting what you already have. Then there's also his parents whom are basically forcing him to be with her... But don't worry the breaking is coming soon but don't expect it to be good.**

 **And, dear *** Siennese* **I really loved the fact that you reviewed on every chapter you read although you weren't reading while I first updated them. I got so disappointed when you stopped tho, lol. If you're still reading, I hope you like where the story is heading since it's a bit cleared now than it was in the first few chapters.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this quick little update. I gave you some Rucas action *Wink*wink* a kiss is coming preeeetty soon... Chapters wise not time wise since I don't know when I'll update again.**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.**


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